Not A Children's Card Game Anymore
by Doctor Shmosby
Summary: Present Day time, every one know about the t.v. show Yugioh. But what if the hologram duels were finally able to be created and used. Stick with Xander and his friends as he duels cards to win tournaments and to save lives.
1. Not A Children's Card Game Anymore

A/N: My first crack at a Yu-Gi-Oh story. Here are some things that'll help. As for Dueling, it will be like regular Yu-gi-oh and Yu-Gi-Oh Gx. It's simple and that's the way i like it. As for the dueling rules, will be explained as this story goes on.

Full Summary: Present Day time, every kid, teen, and some young adults know about the t.v. show Yugioh and the Card Games that were invented with it. But what if the hologram duels were finally able to be created and used. But what if someone also made virtual games that were also real. And what if some one so evil was able to make the cards come to life and was able to control the monsters and the magic cards. Stick with Xander and his friends as the duel cards to win tournaments and to save lives, and to see if Xander is the King of Duel Games and is the one able to save the world from destruction.

Chapter 1: Not Just A Children's Card Game Anymore

"Attention, Ladies and Gentlemen! This announcement will change the world for all Kids, Teens, and Young Adults!" Shouted the Announcer from on the t.v. He just looked like your typical television show host, yet a boy with black hair and green eyes sat down on the edge of his bed and watched as the host spoke about something so important that would change his life. His name was Xander J. Rikes. "As you all know that there is a game out there called the Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters and finally, The world's finest Mechanical Engineers and Computer Scientists, and with the help of a hefty donation from the Kromes Inc., they have finally been able to make the Duel Monsters Card Game come to life!" A loud cheering was made from all around the announcer as he was standing in the center of a stadium that was made for any sports.

Xander raised his eyebrows in surprise. He knew of the Duel Monster since he was a kid, everyone did, it was a huge thing for kids and very popular, yet he never played it cause he didn't know how to. No one ever taught him to play the game, well, because he never had any real friends since the day he lost his father. Xander turned his eyes back to the television screen as the announcer began to talk some more.

"Today, in the first Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monster's Stadium here at Los Angeles, California, you will all witness the first ever real life holographic duel, by two skill duelists," the announcer shouted and the crowd cheered some more as the announcer walked over to the side of the stadium. "Now, let's have the Duel Arena Appear!" he shouted, and suddenly, the floor opened up to reveal a epic looking aren. There were two set up areas for the two duelists, and then in between was the arena that had two columns of five square on each side, and then a big space in the center. And finally in each corner held a pole and at the top was some kind of device that let off colorful light of some kind.

"As you can see, there are two set ups for the duelists which shows not only there area, but their opponent's area as well. And as the place down there cards on their small arena area in front of them, and will the help of these new Holographic Projectors, the monsters and magical cards will appear in the bigger arena looking as real as ever!" the Announcer shouted, exciting the crowd who cheered more. Xander watched with interest, and wished he was able to duel, but it wasn't that important to him. "Now, Let me introduce you to our two duelists who will demonstrate how to play this knew holographic game of Duel Monsters. On the red side of the arena, we have none other than the heir to Kromes Inc., Solomon Kromes!"

The crowd cheered very loudly as a boy about 18 years of age, blue eyes, about 6 foot even, Skinny body structure, with short, red, and near hair, walked out towards the red side of the Dueling Arena. He was wearing a white suit. Seconds later, he stood on a platform that raised him up to his small red arena area. Xander sneered as he knew this Solomon Kromes and did not like him one bit. The two went to school together, and Solomon would always try to bully him because he was rich and Xander wasn't.

"And in the blue area, a local and runner-up regional Champion in the Yu-Gi-Oh L.A. Duelist Tournament, is Ryu Bakers!" Half of the crowd cheered as another boy about the same age as Solomon ran out towards his blue side of the platform which lifted him to his small blue arena. He had blue eyes, neck-length dark blonde hair, about 5'9, a skinny body structure, with white peach skin. He wore regular clothes like black shorts, black t-shirt with a red headband around his head.

Xander also knew Ryu Bakers. They had many classes together but they weren't friends as Ryu hung out with the Duelist crowd, and Xander didn't. Xander watched as the two duelists stared down one another.

"Are you duelists ready?" The announcer asked the two duelists who nodded, and the took out their decks and place them on the right side of their smaller areas.

Ryu smirked and pointed at Solomon. "You should just surrender now, Kromes, or I will use by Machines to tear you into pieces!" he shouted at his opponent.

Solomon snorted. "As if, Ryu," he replied, then gave an evil smirk. "I'll have you beat within five turns and have my beast monsters tear you to shreds!"

"Alright," the announcer shouted through his microphone. "Each duelist will start out with 4000 life-points as you can see above!" Above the dueling arena, sat a large cubic scoreboards that showed the duelists' names and their life-points. "The first person to reach zero, loses the duel. Begin!"

"Let's duel!" Solomon and Ryu shouted at each other at the same time, and then, then duel began.

"I'll go first!" Ryu shouted, drawing a card, looked at it, and then smirked. Then laid down his first monster card. "I summon Machina Soldier (Atk/Def:1600/1500) in attack mode!" Everyone watched in shock in awe, including Xander and the two duelists, as a real holographic monster materialized on the dueling arena looking very real indeed. "And I use his special effect which also let's me summon another Machina Monster from my hand while I have no other monsters on the field, and I summon, Machina Sniper(Atk/Def:1800/800) in attack mode!" And then another monster materialized next to the first one. "And then I end my turn!"

"Not bad," Solomon praised, drew a card, looked at it, then added it to his hand, then placed down his own monster card. "But not good enough. I summon the Enraged Battle-Ox(Atk/Def:1700/1000)." And the Battle Ox materialized on Solomon's side of the field. "Go, Battle Axe, Attack his Machina Soldier!"

The Battle Ox roared and ran towards the Machina Soldier and swung his axe, but at the last minute, Machina Sniper stepped in front of the Soldier and protected him, and the battle ox was destroyed, shocking the great Solomon Kromes.

"Wow!" the Announcer said. "Instead of being attacked by Battle Ox, Machina Sniper stepped in front of the Ox and since the Sniper's attack was higher, the Battle ox was destroyed, and Solomon loses 100 life-points!"

Xander watched from his room as Solomon's life-points went to 3900.

"What happened?" Solomon growled, after witnessing the destruction of his Battle Ox.

"Well, it was all thanks to Machina Sniper's special effect!" Ryu said with a smirk. "Machina Sniper won't let you attack any other monsters besides itself! Ha! Bet you didn't think I was going to be that easy, huh!"

Solomon glared down at Ryu, and then placed down a face down card with a small smirk. "I place down one face down card and end my turn!" he finished, as a facedown card appeared on the field.

"Alright!" Ryu said as he drew another card and placed it in his hand. "I will sacrifice my two Machina Monsters to special summon a all new and powerful monster!" he shouted, as the two monsters merged into one and then became... "Machina Fortress (Atk/Def:2500/1600) in attack mode! Go, Machina Fortress, attack his life-points directly!" The Machina Fortress shot his cannon-gun towards Solomon.

"Not so fast!" Solomon shouted, surprising Ryu. "Reveal Face-down!" The card revealed itself shocking Ryu. "The card I laid down was Mirror Force! Which blocks your attack and redirects it towards your own monster and destroying it!"

"No!" Ryu shouted as his monster was destroyed by its own attack, leaving him wide open. Ryu looked at his hand revealing he had nothing to protect him with and that he couldn't summon another monster. Ryu sighed. "I end my turn," he said solemnly.

Solomon laughed and drew his next card. He then threw down his next monster card. "I summon the Phantom Beast Wild-Horn!" And the new monster appeared on Solomon's field. "Now, my monster, attack Ryu's attack points directly!" The Wild-Horn roared loudly and attacked Ryu's life-points by 1700 points.

"Wow!" the announcer said. "There goes a chunk of Ryu's life-points!" Xander watched as Ryu's life-points went from 4000 to 2300.

"Ready to surrender yet, Ryu?" Solomon said with an evil grin towards Ryu who was glaring back.

"I don't think so!" Ryu replied angrily. "Now, I believe it's my turn!" he added, then drew a card, and smiled. "Get ready to lose, Solomon!" he shouted and then placed down a monster card. "I summon my Blast Sphere(Atk/Def:2900/1400)!" And the monster appeared and Solomon watched in shock as Ryu's Blast Sphere attached itself to his Wild-Horn.

"What the devil is going on!" Solomon shouted.

"That will be my monster's effect which is made as an equip card and I equipped it to your monster!" Ryu answered with a big smirk. "And in one turn, my monster will take out your monster and take out your life-points by the difference of the two monsters attacks, so I put down one face down card, and end my turn!" And then, Ryu's monster explodes taking down Solomon's monster. "Ha!"

Xander watched as Solomon lost 1200 points and was now down to 2700 life-points.

"You'll pay for that!" Solomon growled and drew a new card, then smiled widely. "Ah Ha! I summon the Yellow Baboon, Archer of the Forest(Atk/Def:2600/1800)!" And out came the new and stronger monster.

"What! How can you summon that without sacrificing!" Ryu growled.

"That's thanks to The Yellow Baboon's special effect which is when two beast type monsters were destroyed and put into the graveyard, it allows me to summon this stronger monster!" Solomon explained with an evil smirk. "And I place down a face-down card, now, my Yellow Baboon, attack his life-points directly and end this duel!"

The monster roared and shot an arrow towards Ryu who shouted, "Not this time, Solomon. I reveal my face-down card!" Ryu's face-down card flipped up to reveal itself. "Sakuretsu Armor, which allows me to destroy a Monster who is about to attack, and i chose your attack monster!" he finished with a grin, but it was wiped off his face when Solomon was laughing. "What are you laughing for?" Ryu asked.

"I knew you'd play a trap, so I laid a trap down of my own!" Solomon answered with an evil grin.

"What? No!" Ryu growled.

"Yes!" Solomon said raising his hand. "I reveal my facedown card!" And Solomon's card was revealed to Ryu. "Dust Tornado, and it allows me to destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I chose your Sakuretsu Armor which allows me to still attack your life-points directly!"

"NO!" Ryu screamed and Xander watched as the Yellow Baboon, Archer of the Forest attacked Ryu's life-points directly taking them from 2300 to 0. "No!" Ryu growled pounding down his fist in anger.

"Told ya i'd beat you within five turns," Solomon said.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" the announcer shouted. "Please put your hands together for the first winner of the first Holographic duel! Give it up for Solomon Kromes!" THe crowd cheered as loud as they could, as Solomon gave a bow and Ryu shamefully walked away from the arena. "Stay tuned for more duels, and as of today, the new duel arcade, with many arenas, and will always be opened to duel, and also, we have these Duel Disk sold at about $299.99 to fight on the outside of the arcade with your own holographic projectors. These Duel Disks can also be won in next month's Monster's Duel Tournament."

Xander turned off the television. "Wow, that was pretty intense," he said to himself and then laid down on his bed. He stretched out to his full 5 foot 11 inches height and average body structure.

"Xander, would you come down to the dining room please?" shouted his mother's voice. Xander sized, got out of his bed, and walked downstairs and into the dining room. He was surprised to see the room decorated with different colored streamers, balloons, and with a sighed that said Happy Birthday. And on the table, sat a few presents, cake, and plates and plastic ware.

"Happy 17th Birthday!" Chorused Xander's Mother, sister, Uncle, and Grandparents. His mother was about 5'6 with black hair and brown eyes, and his 15 year old sister was nearly an exact replica of her mother but she was 6 inches shorter. Xander's Uncle was tall, 6'3 with brown hair and brown eyes, and pretty muscular while his grandparents were average, old, and white.

"What's all this?" Xander asked everyone.

"What, did you already forget that it was your birthday today, big brother?" his little sister named Jasmine said jokingly to her brother. And to the truth and distraction of the Monster's Duel he just saw, he did almost forget his birthday.

"No, of course not," Xander replied with a small smile, and then took a seat, where his uncle brought the lit candle and put it in front of his nephew.

"Here you go kiddo," his Uncle Joey said as he placed down the cake. "Make a wish!" Xander rolled his eyes and then blew out the lit candles while thinking, '_I wish I could become the best Monster's Duelist ever.'_

"Alright," everyone said and took a seat except for Xander's mother who began to cut the cake and pass it around.

"So, what did you wish for, big brother?" Jasmine asked, and took a bite of her piece of cake.

"Well, If he tells you Jazzy, then it won't come true," Uncle Joey said as he stood up, grabbed a small box present and handed it to Xander. "Here, you might like this," he said to Xander.

Xander nodded and then looked at the present. It was a box that was about big enough to hold a 2 deck of playing cards. He opened the wrapping paper then opened up the box to reveal about 5 packs of Yu-Gi-Oh playing cards. '_Is my dream coming true?' _Xander thought to himself.

"I thought you might want to start that Duel Monsters since they made those Holographic Projectors and made it almost seem real," Uncle Joey told Xander.

Xander smiled. "Thanks Uncle Joey, I was thinking about it, actually," he said to his Uncle and sat down the Yu-Gi-Oh Card Packs. He opened up his next presents to find new clothes, a new video game for his Xbox 360, and some money that added up to 200 hundred bucks.

After a couple of hours of hanging out with the family, Xander gathered his presents and walked back up to his room while His Uncle and Grandparents left, and his mother and sister cleaned up a bit. Xander entered the room and set down his new things. He put away his game and his clothes, stuck his money in his wallet, and then walked over to the Dueling card packs that sat on his bed. He sat down on the floor and leaned against his bed grabbing his packs, put them all down and grabbed one of them. He hoped he would get some good cards, yet he didn't know what a good card was, yet.

Xander opened his first pack and pulled out nine cards. He looked up at his very first card. The name was a Dark Magician of Chaos which had an Attack of 2800 and a Defense of 2600. The card also told him it was a Dark and Spell-Caster monster, and that it was a level 8. Xander stared down at the Dark Magician of Chaos and thought how cool it looked, but as he looked at it, he felt a very strange connection to it. Nonetheless, Xander set the card down and looked at the next which was a Knight of the Twin Swords, and then Xander continued to look at the rest of his cards, not knowing which were good or which were bad. After examining his cards for an hour to two, Xander went to sleep thinking that he did need someone to help him learn the game of Yu-Gi-Oh's Duel Monsters and he might just know who to ask. And with that last thought, Xander fell asleep.

* * *

The Next day, Xander dressed for school in a red t-shirt and black pants with regular tennis shoes. He grabbed his one strap bag and his Dueling cards, and then left for his school. He arrived at school and before classes started, Xander walked around the school looking for the one who could help him learn all about Duel Monsters. He was looking for Ryu Bakers. After seeing him fight in that duel yesterday, Xander knew he could get help from him. The bell rung telling Xander that it was time for class, so he abandoned his search to get to his first class, and for the whole day, he saw no sign of Ryu.

'_He must be sick,' _Xander thought as he walked through the halls after the end of school. '_Why else wouldn't he have come to school.'_

Xander exited the school only to be bumped into Solomon and a couple of his buddies, making him half of his cards to the ground. "Watch it, narc!" Solomon growled, but then noticed his cards on the ground, so did his muscular friends.

"Hey, looky here Solomon," said Solomon's big, fat dumb friend, Burt. "This kid's trying to be a Duelist." he said picking up a few of Xander's cards, including his Dark Magician of Chaos. "And look here, He's got a Dark Magician of Chaos. Isn't that a rare card?"

"Hey! Those are mine!" Xander shouted trying to reach back for his cards, but Solomon's second bully, Ramos, grabbed his arms.

"Watch it, buddy!" Ramos growled, seizing Xander's arms tightly.

"Give me that card!" Solomon ordered his crony who nodded and handed him the Dark Magician of Chaos. "Such a powerful card for such a little noob, don't you think?" Solomon asked Xander who glared back. "I think so, so why don't I hold onto it and keep it in my deck."

"No!" Xander argued, struggling against Ramos's tight grip. "You can't. I got that card fair and square, from a booster pack, and you can't just take it away from me!"

"Just watch me," Solomon replied with an evil smile.

"Give him back his Dark Magician of Chaos, Solomon!" said a voice from behind the group. The four heads turned to see a Senior student walking there way. He was 6'1, had brown eyes with short dark brown hair, fit, with apricot colored skin.

"Why should I, Jake Williamson!" Solomon replied, turning to look at him.

"Because I said so!" Jake replied, glaring towards Solomon who glared back. Xander looking at the two and feeling the tremendous anger coming from both of them.

"You don't have authority over me, Williamson!" Solomon growled. "And I think I will just keep it for my own and it will help me win any duels I play."

"If you won't give it back, Solomon," Jake started as he pulled something out from his back pocket which was a small box. "Then I will just have to duel it from you!" he finished revealing a deck that was in the small box. Xander's eyebrows rose in shock and worry. He didn't want to lose his Dark Magician of Chaos. He already had gotten it and already felt connected to it.

"Alright, Jake," Solomon said as he smiled widely. "That sounds like an idea. And if we duel, we do it at the Duel Arcade in the Arenas." Jake nodded with a look of determination in his eyes. "What are your terms?"

"If I win, You give that kid his Dark Magician of Chaos back," Jake answered.

"And if I win?" Solomon asked.

"_If _you win," Jake started. "Then you can keep that card and take my rarest card, the Sorcerer of Dark Magic!" he finished showing Solomon his rarest card.

Solomon smiled widely and evilly. "Deal," he said and the two duelists shook each other's hands. "You card is as good as mine!"

"We'll see about that," Jake replied with a smirk.

"Meet me at the Dueling Arcade at Five!" Solomon said and then walked away with his cronies, but not before Burt threw down the rest of Xander's cards he had in his hand. Xander bent down to pick up his cards, then stood up to see Jake walking away. Xander clenched his teeth and ran in front of Jake and made him stop.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" Xander growled at the older teen. "You can't just go risking my card like that!"

"I had to," Jake replied. "There would have been no other way. And to get the things you want from Solomon, dueling for them is the way."

"So!" Xander replied, running both hands through his hair. "Can you even beat him? I saw Ryu, who was the runner-up champion lose against him and he did it if it was simple. So, how can you beat him?"

"Because I'm the Champion of the same tournament Ryu was in," Jake answered. "And because I believe I can beat him, because I believe in my cards." Xander stood there dumbfounded at Jake's words, not noticing that Jake was leaving. He shook out of it and watched Jake walking away and then knew that he meant his words, and that he had confidence like no other, and Xander probably thought he had a heart of a true duelist. After all, he was dueling to get Xander's rare card back. And maybe, just maybe that this guy could teach Jake how to play.

"Jake! Hey, wait up!" Xander shouted as he ran after him. Jake turned back with an amused look on his face, and then looked at him expectantly. Xander slowed down next to him and the two began walking together. "I was wondering if you could help me?"

"How so?" Jake asked, not looking at Xander.

"Well, um, these cards here," Xander said pulling out his Dueling cards and showed them to Jake who looked at them with interest. "These are my first dueling cards I've ever owned and I know very little about dueling and I would love to learn, if...if you're willing to teach me first?" he asked with hope in his eyes.

"I don't know," Jake answered, making Xander's eyes drop. "It all depends. If you're confident and if you're heart is in it. Is it?"

"It is," Xander answered with a determined nod.

"If it truly is," Jake said, turning to look at Xander. "Then I will teach you everything I know about Duel Monsters. Let me see those cards?" Xander nodded and handed Jake his cards who began to look at them. "Wow, some of these are actually pretty good, but these others aren't so great. Where'd you get these?"

"My Uncle got them for my birthday," Xander answered, watching Jake split the cards into two decks, on smaller than the other. He first handed him the first deck with was the bigger one.

"Keep these cards," Jake told Xander who nodded and grabbed the small. Jake then handed him the smaller deck. "And throw these away," he added. "They're not that great so you won't be needing them."

"But don't I need more cards to have a real dueling deck?" Xander asked examining his first starter deck.

"Yeah, but don't worry about that right now," Jake replied nonchalantly, waving his hand. "Anyways, I have to go see a friend, would you like to join me?" he asked Xander.

Xander shrugged. "Sure, why not?" he said and followed Jake, and within minutes, the two arrived at a two-story house, walked up to the door and knocked. A middle-aged woman answered the door looking relieved when she saw Jake and Xander.

"Oh, Jake, thank goodness you're here," the woman said in relief.

"How's he doing?" Jake asked the older woman. Xander looking at the two with a puzzled look.

"Not so good, he still beating himself up about losing," the woman replied. "He hasn't been this bad since he lost his first battle. He wasn't even this bad when you beat him last year."

"Do you mind if we go up and try to talk to him?" Jake asked.

"Please," the woman said, letting Jake and Xander into the house. Xander then followed Jake up the stairs of the house and towards a room where they stopped. Jake then knocked on the door.

"Ryu, it's Jake! Can I come in?" Jake called. Xander's eyebrows rose in surprise when he heard Ryu's name, and then put it all together. Ryu wasn't sick, he was just really bummed out for losing against Solomon yesterday in the first Holographic Duel.

"Go away," answered the muffled voice of Ryu.

"Come on, Ryu," Jake said. "It wasn't that bad, besides, I bet no one was watching tv that day anyways to not everyone saw it, right?" he said looking at Xander.

"I saw it, and it was pretty brutal," Xander replied.

"I heard that!" Ryu shouted as Jake rolled his eyes at Xander who shrugged. "Who is that with you anyways?"

"It's...uh..." Jake began but stopped, then looked at Xander. "Uh, what's your name again?"

"Xander Rikes," Xander answered.

"Xander Rikes?" came Ryu's muffled voice. "From school? What's he doing here?"

"I tell you about it later, but right now, we need to talk!" Jake shouted and banged on the door a couple times. "Come on, open up!"

"No!" Ryu shouted. "Nothing you say or do will get me to open this door!"

"I'm going to duel Solomon at 5 today," Jake shouted, and seconds later, the door opened to reveal a disheveled Ryu glaring down at Jake.

"Why?" Ryu asked. "Are you trying to avenge me or something? Cause if you are, don't. Im going to avenge myself!"

"That's not why I'm going to Duel him," Jake replied. "I'm only dueling him because he stole Xander's rarest card he had, The Dark Magician of Chaos. And I'm trying to get it back for him."

Ryu raised an eyebrow and looked at Xander. "What's the matter, Xander? Can't fight your own battles?" he asked.

"Not at the moment," Xander answered with a straight face to show that Ryu's comments didn't effect him. Ryu raised an eyebrow again and looked at Jake who nodded.

"Plus, i always wanted to duel Solomon and now I can, and it will be even more cool with the holographic projectors," Jake said and then put a hand on his shoulder. "And another thing is that I need you there at my side to cheer me on. And I wanted you to be there when I be the first to take Solomon down."

"Okay," Ryu said with a smile. "Come on in, guys. Xander, nice to meet you." And the two shook hands and then entered his room. "So, you're a beginner huh?"

Xander nodded. "Yeah," he said and took a seat on a chair that was in the room, Jake sitting in another chair, and Ryu walked over to sit on his bed.

"Cool, can I see your deck?" Ryu asked. Xander nodded and handed Ryu his small deck. Ryu took it with a raised eyebrow. "It's a little too small, don't you think?"

"That's where you come in, Ryu," Jake spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Xander and Ryu spoke at the same time, surprising themselves.

"Well, Ryu," Jake began. "You do have a very large collection of Dueling Cards, common and rare, and maybe you could help him and give him some cards."

"Um, sure, I could do that," Ryu said, and then handed Xander's deck back to him. "But it won't be for free." he said with a smile.

"Well," Xander said, puling out his wallet and then pulled out his money. "I do have about 200 bucks, what will that get me?"

"You have come to the right place," Ryu said eyeing the money and then stood up to bring out a suitcase, and opened it up to reveal a lot of very very good cards.

"Well, Xander," Jake said, gaining the novice's attention. "While Ryu picks out some cards, let's get to explaining some of these new rules for Dueling Monsters." And over the next hour, Jake, with the help of Ryu told them the rules and taught him to duel a bit and at the end of the duel, the three guys were heading to the Dueling Arcade.

The three were across the street from the Dueling Arcade when they saw Solomon and his buddies. "Alright, Jake," Ryu said. "Let's take this sucker down!"

But something very happened, and it happened all so quick. When the light changed, Jake had to tie his shoe while Ryu and Xander began crossing the street. The two were talking animatedly and didn't turn to see Jake until they heard tires screeching and a car hit something.


	2. Underestimation

A/n: All these cards are legit cards, so you can look them up to see what they look like. And I might change the effects to make it better, or easier, or more harder for other duelists.

Chapter 2: Underestimation

_The three were across the street from the Dueling Arcade when they saw Solomon and his buddies. "Alright, Jake," Ryu said. "Let's take this sucker down!"_

_But something very happened, and it happened all so quick. When the light changed, Jake had to tie his shoe while Ryu and Xander began crossing the street. The two were talking animatedly and didn't turn to see Jake until they heard tires screeching and a car hit something._

Ryu and Xander quickly turned around to see Jake on the ground groaning in pain and holding his sides. "No!" Ryu and Xander screamed as the ran over to Jake. "Jake!" A crowd began to gather including Solomon and his buddies as Ryu and Xander kneeled next to their friend as the car who hit Jake took off somewhere.

"Someone call 911!" Xander shouted towards the crowd, and a few people pulled out their cell phones and began to call out for help.

"Don't worry, buddy," Ryu said, touching Jake's shoulder who happened to be in a lot of pain. "Help is on its way, soon."

Minutes later, an ambulance had arrived and Jake was now being lifted up on a gurney and being examined by a couple of Paramedics while a couple of cops were questioning Ryu, Xander, and a few other witnesses.

"It was a black car, but i didn't see the license plates, how many times do I have to tell you," said an exasperated Xander. No matter how many times this cop asks him the same question, there was no way he would even remember the license plate cause he never saw them. The Cop nodded and walked off to interview another witness. Ryu walked over to Xander and the two watched Jake be examined and strapped.

"Looks like I get to keep your Card, Rikes!" Solomon shouted from the front of the crowd. Ryu and Xander turned to the rich boy and glared at him. "Since there's no way Jake's dueling, he can't get your card back and it's not like he had a chance anyway. So it looks like the Dark Magician of Chaos is Mine! Ha!" he laughed.

"Well, how bout I duel you for the card!" Ryu growled, stepping in front of Xander and pointing towards Solomon who began laughing.

"And lose again?" Solomon laughed with his arms crossed, his buddies laughing as well. "Are you sure you want to do that, Bakers! You will end up losing and will still not get Rikes' card back."

"You want to back that up," Ryu growled. "Cause I could use a re-match and I will win this time."

"I see you let others fight for you, Rikes!" Solomon shouted towards Xander and clenched his teeth and began to think. "Not able to fight you own battles!"

"Leave him out of this, Kromes!" Ryu shouted, clenching his fists. "This is be-" but he was stopped as Xander put a hand on his shoulder and walked up to Solomon in looked into his eyes with determination.

"Alright, Solomon," Xander said calmly. "You want me to duel you, alright then, I will duel you! Let's do this Solomon. I will fight for Jake and I will get my Dark Magician of Chaos Back!"

"You, a noob, beat me, a pro duelist!" Solomon laughed. "That'll be the day!"

"Yeah, there's no way!" Burt laughed as Ramos nodded in agreement.

"Xander, are you sure you want to do this?" Ryu asked the novice. "I mean, we did tell the rules and somewhat how to play. Are you sure you can do this?"

"I know I can," Xander answered staring down at the laughing Solomon. "I remember everything you told me and I happen to be a very quick learner!"

"Come on, Xander," Ryu begged. "You can't go up against this guy. He is a pro duelist, and you're just a beginner. You can't win!"

"I can win and i will," Xander replied. "As long as I have my confidence and as long as I believe in my cards!" he finished, and then faced up to Solomon. "Alright, Solomon, let's duel!"

Solomon nodded. "Alright," he said. "Follow me." Xander nodded and was about to follow Solomon when he heard his name being called.

"Xander? Is there a Xander here?" said one of the paramedics. Xander and Ryu turned around and both walked towards the Paramedics as Solomon and his buddies waited impatiently.

"Yeah, I'm Xander," Xander said as he stepped in front of the Paramedic. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Mr. Williamson would like to speak to you for a second," the Paramedic said. Xander nodded, glanced a Ryu, and walked over beside Jake who had his eyes wide open. His eyes turned to Xander when he arrived. "Make it quick, we need to leave," the paramedic said.

"What's up?" Xander asked his new friend.

"I heard you speech," Jake struggled to say. "It was a pretty good speech. It showed that your heart is in Dueling." Xander smiled and nodded. "I have something for you. Look over there by my things." Xander looked over to Jake's things. "Grab my deck." Xander grabbed it. "Look through it and you'll see a card called the Dark Magician." Xander looked through Jake's deck, and soon enough, there was the Dark Magician. "I want you to take it." Jake told him.

Xander shook his head. "I can't take this," he said.

"You can and you will," Jake groaned out. "I believe if you take this card it will be the one to help you win your first Duel against Solomon. And if you have any doubts about losing, throw them away, cause I believe you can win, and as long as you believe in the Heart of the Cards, you can and will win the duel."

Xander nodded, took the card, put it in his deck, and set Jake's deck back next to his things. "I will believe for you and for myself," he said. Jake nodded and gave a smile.

"Alright, we have to go," said a Paramedic. "Step back." Xander stepped back next to Ryu and the two watched as the ambulance doors closed and then drove off seconds later.

"Come on, Noob!" Solomon shouted from behind Ryu and Xander. "I would like to be home in time for dinner!" Ryu and Xander turned around and faced Solomon and his buddies.

"Lead the way, Kromes," Ryu said. Solomon smirked and began walking towards the Dueling arcade with Ryu and Xander following. Minutes later, the five teens had entered the Arcade and then entered a Dueling Arena. Solomon walked over to the red side while Xander walked over to the blue side and both rose to their card setting areas. Once the set their decks down, the holographic projectors turned on. The duelists friends took to the side to watch and cheer on their respective friends, and some other people began to file in to watch the duel with interest.

"So, what are your terms, Rikes?" Solomon smugly asked as he drew his first set of cards and looked at them.

"If I win, I get my card back," Xander answered drawing his first set of cards. "And If you win, you can have my deck."

"What? Xander are you crazy!" Ryu shouted from the sidelines. "You can't risk your whole deck!"

"Don't worry," Xander replied calmly. "Everything will be fine. You can go first Solomon!" He shouted and the both started out with 4000 life-points.

"Don't mind if i do," Solomon said cheekily as he drew his first card, and smirked evilly, then threw down his first monster card. "I summon my first monster, the Pitch-Black WarWolf(Atk/Def:1600/600) in attack mode!" And the monster appeared on Solomon's side of the field. "And I end My turn."

Xander nodded, and drew his first card, and then looked at his hand. He held Celtic Guardian, Magician of Faith, Alligator's Sword, Trap Hole, Brain Control, and Mystical Space Typhoon. '_Okay, what should I summon first,' _Xander thought. '_I should summon a monster, and the use a magic card. I think I know what to do.'_

"Any day now, Rikes!" Solomon shouted.

"Alright, here I go," Xander said to himself and the summoned his first monster ever. "I summon my first monster ever, Alligator's Sword(Atk/Def:1500/1200) in attack mode!" And the monster materialized on Xander's side of the field. Solomon laughed out loud.

"You are such an amateur!" he laughed. "That monster's weaker than mine!"

Xander glared down at Solomon. "And then I play the Magic Card, Brain Control!" he shouted, making Solomon stop laughing and growl in anger. "Brain Control let's me control on of your monsters for one turn and since you only have one, I will control your Pitch-Black WarWolf!" The Brain Control card came to life and pulled WarWolf over to Xander's side of the field. "Now, Alligator's Sword, WarWolf, attack Solomon's life-points directly!"

"No!" Solomon screamed the two monsters attacked his life-points, bringing them down from 4000 to 900. "Impossible!"

"Great Move, Xander!" Ryu shouted. "But take your time, you don't want to rush things or you might miss something on Solomon's strategy and lose." Xander nodded.

"I lay one facedown card, and end my turn," he said, and Solomon's WarWolf was returned to him.

"It seems I have to stop holding back on you if you wanna play rough!" Solomon growled as he drew his next card, and then smirked. "Alright. I place down two face down cards, and then, go my WarWolf, attack his Alligator's Sword!" He commanded. The WarWolf flew over to Xander's monster and slashed him, destroying him, causing Xander to lose 100 hundred life-points and now have 3900. "I end my turn."

Xander nodded and then drew his next card. It was a Crimson Ninja, a weak monster yet it had a good effect. "I place one card facedown, and I also place this monster face-down as well, in defense mode. I play my first facedown card, Mystical Space Typhoon!" Xander said, angering Solomon a bit. "And I chose the card on the left!" The left card reveal itself to be a mirror force and was suck into the typhoon that had been created and then disappeared. "And I end my turn."

"You seemed to have learned something from Jake and Ryu," Solomon said as he drew his card. "Another thing you can learn from them is losing! Alright, I sacrifice, my WarWolf to summon my all powerful Manticore of Darkness(Atk/Def:2300/1000) in attack mode!" And a new monster was materialized as WarWolf was sacrificed and put into the graveyard. "Luckily for you, the rules say that any special summoned monster must wait one turn to be used. I end my turn!"

"Come on, Xander, you can do this!" Ryu shouted. Xander smiled and drew his card which happened to be Cybernetic Magician. Wait, this card was stronger than Solomon's and he could play it, destroy Solomon's monster and be one step closer to defeating him.

"Alright, Solomon," Xander said, throwing down a monster card. "I sacrifice my monster card which was my Celtic Guardian, to summon my Cybernetic Magician(Atk/Def:2400/1000) In attack mode!" The Celtic Guardian disappear where the Cybernetic Magician took its place. "And If You look closely, You'll see that my monster is stronger than yours! So, Go! My Cybernetic Magician, Attack Solomon's Manticore of Darkness!"

"Xander, No!" Ryu shouted a little horrified. "His facedown card!"

But it was too late as the Cybernetic Magician shot his attack towards Solomon's monster. "Ha!" Solomon shouted. "You fell right into my trap and only noobs do that!"

"What?" said a shocked Xander.

"Reveal my trap card!" Solomon commanded and his facedown card flipped up. "SpellBinding Circle!"

"What is that?" Xander shouted as Ryu grabbed his hair in frustration.

"Don't know huh?" Solomon said with a smug look on his face. "Well, I'll tell you! It negates your monster attack and as long as it's on the field, your Cybernetic Magician cannot attack!" And then, the Spellbinding Circle came to life and the circle attached it to Xander's monster, making it unable to attack. "And that's not all! It also reduces your monster's attack points by 700 points!"

"Damn!" Xander growled, then said through his clenched teeth, "I'll end my turn!" Xander looked at the two cards in his hand; Magician of Faith and the Crimson Ninja. He also had Trap Hole on the field.

Solomon snickered. "Like you could even have a chance to beat me," he said and drew his next card, looked at it, and smiled widely. '_Hmm, he probably has a trap card ready, and now that I drew this card that will destroy it.'_ "I place down one facedown card. And now, go, Manticore of Darkness, attack his Cybernetic Magician!"

And Solomon's monster did attack, but not before Xander shouted. "Not so Fast! I reveal my trap!" But before he reveal his trap Solomon laughed. "Why are you laughing!"

"Because you activated my second trap card!" Solomon said. "Reveal!" And the card flipped up. "Dust Tornado, which allows me to destroy one spell or trap card on the field, and I chose the only one on your field!" Xander watched in horror as a dusty tornado came to life and destroyed his trap card. "Now, go, Manticore of Darkness, attack his monster." And it did, and attacked Xander's monster, destroying it.

"No!" Xander shouted, pounding down his fist as he lost 600 life-points, bringing him down to 3200.

"Don't worry Xander, you're doing good!" Ryu shouted towards Xander. "Remember, you're still in the lead! You have a chance."

"Not for long," Solomon mumbled. "I end my turn!"

Xander drew his next card which was a Jar of Greed, which is what he though he needed. "I play Jar of Greed which allows me to draw two cards!" Xander said, and then drew two more cards then discarded his jar of greed. Xander looked at his cards. He had Crimson Ninja, Magician of faith, Stop Defense, and Card Destruction. He didn't have anything right now and need new cards. "Now, I play, Card Destruction!" he shouted, throwing down the magic card.

"What! No!" Solomon growled.

"Yes!" Xander replied. "This card allows both players discard their hand into the graveyard and then draw the same amount of cards!" Solomon grumbled as he did so, but smiled evilly when he saw what he drew. Xander discarded his three cards and then drew three more, and looked at them. He had Magical Hats, Negate attack, and a monster, Knight of Twin Swords. "Alright, I place down one monster in defense mode and one facedown card! And then I end my turn!"

"Finally," Solomon said and then drew a card, then threw it down. "I summon, Gazelle the King of Mythical Beasts!" And a second monster materialized next to Solomon's Manticore of Darkness. "Go, Manticore of Darkness, destroy his defensive monster!" And it did, leaving Xander defenseless. Xander clenched his teeth. "Now, Gazelle! Attack his life-ponts directly!" And the Gazelle ran forward to attack Xander's life-points, but he was ready.

"I don't think so, Solomon!" Xander said, angering his opponent. "Reveal my facedown card, Negate Attack!" he shouted and the card negated Gazelle's attack. "I think the title says it all, Solomon."

"Nonetheless," Solomon replied and then threw down a card. "I play Hinotama!"

"No!" Ryu shouted.

"What's that do?" Xander asked.

Solomon snickered. "It inflicts direct damage to you by 500 hundred life-points!" And the card came to life, showing fireballs appear from the sky to attack Xander's life-points directly taking them down to 2700. "Ha! I end my turn!"

'_Wow, this guy is really tough, I haven't been able to attack his life-points since his first turn,'_ Xander thought, then drew his card which was another Jar of Greed. '_Good, I need this!' _"I play the Jar of Greed again and draw two cards!" he said and drew his two cards which were the monster, Dark Blade, and a magic card, Bound Wand. Xander sighed, only one card to help him, but for only a turn. "I play a monster down in defense mode, and then end my turn," Xander said, a little disappointed.

"A little disappointed, are you?" Solomon said as he drew his next card and grinned evilly. "Now, I sacrifice my two monster and summon my ultimate beast!" Solomon shouted as the two monsters combine into one. "Now, fear the strongest card in my deck, The Beast King Barbaros(Atk/Def:3000/1200) in attack mode!"

"Oh no!" Ryu gasped as Solomon's buddies cheered and laughed as they knew it was over.

"But by the rules, I have to wait one turn till i can attack," Solomon said. "But this will make up for it! Another two Hinotomas!"

"No!" Xander and Ryu shouted as the fireballs attacked Xander's life-points directly, taking them down to 1700.

"And I end my turn," Solomon said with a laugh. "Soon, it will be all over for you, Rikes!"

Xander clenched his teeth and looked at his hand which only held two measly cards, Magical Hats and Bound Wand. He needed a powerful card but he didn't have any at the moment, and he needed to draw more cards, and he knew he had a third jar of greed and if he drew it, it just might help. Xander held his hand over his deck hoping it was the card he wanted, but then he his stomach dropped. What if it wasn't the card he needed and just a card he couldn't use. Then he would lose this duel and lose his Dark Magician of Chaos forever.

"What's taking you so long?" Solomon yelled. "Have you come to your senses and realized that you can't win this duel!"

"Shut up, Solomon!" Ryu shouted. "Just ignore him, Xander. Come on, you can do this! Just don't give up!"

Xander's hand began to shake above his deck. '_What have I got myself into?' _he thought to himself. '_How could i get it into my that me, a novice, could ever win against this pro duelist. I'm way in over my head, and I will lose.'__  
_

_'You can't just give up, now,' _came a voice inside his head that sounded like Jake. '_Remember that I believe that you can win, and that the way to win is to believe in the Heart of the Cards! Do it For Jake, Ryu, and your Dark Magician of Chaos. Win this duel. Believe in the Heart of the Cards!'_

'_That's right,' _Xander thought and slowly place his hand on his deck. '_All i have to do is believe in myself and in the Heart of the Cards and I can win this thing. I believe!' _Was Xander's last thought when he drew his card to reveal his last Jar of Greed. "Yes! I drew the card i wanted!" Xander said. "All I had to do was believe in the Heart of the Cards."

"Well, finally," Solomon said straightening up. "Thought you'd never draw. And what's that mumbo jumbo you're speaking about, anyways."

"Well, I did," Xander replied with a smile. "And don't worry about that as I draw my two cards!" And then drew them to reveal a Strike Ninja and...'_It's the Dark Magician Jake gave me, but how can I bring it out with only one monster on the field, and Ryu and Jake told me that i had to sacrifice two monster to summon a level seven monster. But how? Oh, tribute summoning of course, of course! But even if I do summon them, how do I...Oh! I see.'_

Xander smiled widely. "I play the monster card Strike Ninja in defense mode!" he said.

"That's all you got?" Solomon said as he began to lose. "This is getting better and better."

"I'm not done yet!" Xander said. "I'll sacrifice my two monsters to summon one of my strongest Monsters, the Dark Magician(Atk/Def: 2500/2100) in attack mode!" he shouted surprising a few in the crowd.

"Xander, what are you doing!" Ryu shouted. "You won't be able to attack and with your monster in attack mode, it will be destroyed and you will lose life-points!"

"Don't worry about it, Ryu," Xander said. "I got it all under control. I place down two facedown cards, and I end my turn," he said, smiling as he looked at his empty hand.

"You are such a amateur, Rikes," Solomon replied as he drew his next card. "Now, go my King, and destroy his dark magician!" Barbaros roared and ran towards the Dark Magician to attack with his lance, and attacked, making smoke and dust fly everywhere. "What!" Solomon growled as the smoked cleared to reveal the giant top hats. "What the hell is this?" he cried as Ryu gave a fist pump.

"Before you attack, Solomon, I activated my magic card, Magical Hats!" Xander answered. "Once activated, the hats hides my Dark Magician in one of Four hats and you destroyed one which happened to not have my Dark Magician!"Solomon growled and banged down his fist. "Now there are three hats and you have to figure out where my Dark Magician hides!"

"Don't worry!" Solomon growled. "I will. Your turn!"

Xander nodded and drew his card which turned out to be a Monster Reborn. '_This may be useful later,' _he thought. "I end my turn!"

Solomon sneered and drew his card, then put it into his hand. "Go, Barbaros, attack the middle hat!" And the Monster did, only to attack nothing once again.

"Missed again, Solomon," Xander said with a smirk, as Solomon glared hard at him. "And it looks like your starting to sweat. Ryu, I think you should get him his handkerchief!" he said to Ryu who laughed at his Joke.

"It's not over yet, I end my turn," Solomon said through his gritted teeth.

Xander smile and drew his next card which was a Dust Tornado. '_Hmm, I think I should lay this down now, just in case,'_ he thought, then place down the card. "I place down one more face down card and I end my turn. But choose wisely, Solomon or you might just lose another turn!"

Solomon sneered and drew his next card and smirked. '_A De-Spell card, well I'll take the chance and try for the hats again and use this card on his next magic card which my try and destroy me.' _"Barbaros will attack the right Hat!" Solomon ordered, pointing towards the hat.

Xander smirked, "Lucky Guess," he said, making Solomon sneer happily as his monster attacked the right hat.

"Why are you smirking, Xander!" Ryu shouted from the sideline. "He's going to destroy your Dark Magician!" But it was too late as Barbaros ran forwards and attack the hat the Dark Magician, exploding, and creating a cloud of smoke, but when the smoke cleared, the Dark Magician was still there, blocking Barbaros attack!"

"What! How can this be!" Solomon shouted.

"That would be my second facedown card, Solomon!" Xander said, and then revealed his second facedown card that flipped up. "Bound Wand!" Ryu gave a shout of 'yes.'

"Bound Wand?" Solomon said with a puzzled look.

"It raises the attack points of my Spell-Caster type monster by 100x what their level is!" Xander answered. "As the Dark Magician is a level 7, he will gain 700 attack points making his attack 3200, making him stronger than your Beast King, but since you attacked your monster is destroyed!" And the Beast King Barbaros was digitized and destroyed.

Solomon growled. "Impossible!" he said then put down two cards. "I place one facedown card, and summon the Millennium Shield(Atk/Def:0/3000) in defense mode!"

"Time out!" Ryu shouted. "That's a level five monster, how can you summon it!"

"That'll be Beast King's special ability!" Solomon replied with a grin. "When it is sent to the graveyard, I'm allowed to summon any beast to warrior type monster from my hand to my the field. I end my turn."

Xander nodded and smiled. "I'm afraid I have this duel in the bag, Solomon!" he said and drew what he thought to be his last card.

Solomon laughed. "I don't think so!" he said. "I'm pretty sure that I have the upper hand, you just don't know it."

"Really?" Xander said, then threw down a card. "I play Monster Reborn! It will allow me to revive any monster sent to the graveyard!"

"Ha!" Solomon laughed. "I don't think any of your monsters will destroy my shield."

"I didn't say I was getting a monster from my graveyard!" Xander replied with a smirk, wiping Solomon's grin off his face. "I chose to revive Beast King Barbaros!" Xander shouted and the Beast King materialized next to Dark Magician. "Now, go, Dark Magician! Destroy his Millennium Shield with Dark Magic Attack!"

"I don't think so!" Solomon shouted. "Reveal Facedown! De-Spell! End his Bound Wand and destroy his monster." He laughed but stopped when he saw that Xander was too laughing. "What's so funny, Xander? You're about to lose!"

"I knew you'd pull a trick like that, Solomon!" Xander said. "That's why I placed down this facedown! Reveal, Dust Tornado!"

"No!" Solomon cried in anger.

"And I know what it does since you already played it before!" Xander told his opponent. "And I destroy your De-Spell card which allows my Dark Magician to keep his points, now, Dark Magician, Dark Magic Attack!" And the Dark Magician attack Millennium shield and destroyed it, leaving Solomon's defenses wide open.

"No way," some people began murmuring as they knew what was about to happen. Ryu smirking also knowing what it was about to happen.

Xander pointed at Solomon who was a little distraught know what was about to happen as well. "You think you're a pro duelist, yet you're about to lose to a novice dueler on his first duel!" Xander shouted. "Go, Barbaros, attack the rest of his life-points!" The Beast King roared and attacked Solomon's life-points, bringing them down to Zero, and having the crowd that gathered cheered very loudly for Xander, and Solomon fell to his knees, dropping a few of his cards. Ryu, so amazed at what Xander had done, jumped up and done in triumph.

"How could I have lost," Solomon said to himself. "I was beaten by such an amateur!"

The two duelists left their areas and met on the sidelines with their friends next to them. "You lost fair in square, Solomon," Xander said as he held out his hand. "My card, please." Solomon sneered and handed Xander back his Dark Magician of Chaos.

"This Duel was a fluke," Solomon said to Xander.

"No it wasn't," Xander replied. "You were pent up on nothing but beating me, the novice, Solomon. Thinking it would be such an easy job, but you underestimated me. And I won because I believe I would and I had faith in my cards. I believed in the Heart of my Cards and that's what helped me be victorious. Just as Jake told me. And I hope the next time we duel you will give it your best and not underestimate me." Solomon snorted.

"And the next time we duel, I will beat you down to a pulp!" he said and then walked away with his buddies grumbling in anger.

"Wow, he can't take a real defeat," Ryu said then turned to Xander. "But, wow, Xander. That was pretty amazing! You, a novice, beat Solomon, a PRO!"

"I know," Xander said with a big smile as the two began walking out. "I can't believe it myself. And it was all thanks to the card Jake gave me, the Dark Magician."

"It wasn't just that," Ryu said, putting a hand on Xander's shoulder. "It was also you. You ended up having a pretty good strategy at the end. I was surprised and I guess It is true."

"What's true?" Xander asked.

"That you're a fast learner," Ryu said with a half smile. "And who knows, maybe you'll actually be a pretty good duelist."

"Yeah, good enough to beat you," Xander joked.

"Ha, that'll be the day." Ryu laughed and the two walked out of the Duelist Arcade and towards the Hospital to go check on their friend Jake, and for the first time ever in many years, Xander had friends.


	3. The Ring and Necklace

Chapter 3: The Ring and Necklace

"And then he finished Solomon off with his own strongest monster! You should've seen Solomon. Boy, was he mad, and for losing to such a Novice too," Ryu told Jake at his Bed. After the Duel, Ryu and Xander went to go check on him, but visiting hours were over, so the next day after school, the Two went to go visit Jake. He was awake, but he was covered in bandages with casts in his left arm and right leg. After the greeted one another, Ryu continued to tell Jake how Xander single handedly took out the pro duelist known as Solomon Kromes. "It was really amazing, Jake," Ryu said as he sat on a backwards chair, leaning his arms on the back of it. "He did good."

"Congratulations," Jake said to Xander who shrugged and smiled. He then stood up and walked over to Jake, pulled out the Dark Magician and held it out towards Jake.

"Here," he said. "It was very helpful to me, thanks for letting me use it."

Jake pushed his hand away, while Xander looked a little puzzled. "I gave you that card, Xander," he said. "And I wanted you to keep it."

"Jake, I can't take this," Xander replied, trying to hand Jake the card again, but he just pushed it away. "It's yours, and I have my Dark Magician of Chaos."

"I have no need of it anymore," Jake said with a small smile. "I gave it to you to keep because I felt it was better in the hands of you, and it already seems like it." Xander pulled the card back to him and looked at Jake with another puzzled look. "Besides, your Dark Magician of Chaos could use a brother to look after him." he added while Xander nodded and put the card back in his pocket with the rest of the cards.

"So, Xander," Ry called, gaining the Novice's attention. "What are your next plans now that you won your first duel?" he asked and looked at him expectantly. Jake to looked at Xander with interest.

"Well, I'm going to start training," Xander answered with a small smile, leaving the two others puzzled.

"Training for what?" Jake asked curiously, but it then came to Ryu who had finally remembered something.

"The tournament!" he said excitedly. Xander nodded with a grin, and if he trained well, he would probably make it to some of the finals and thats all he hoped for, and winning the whole thing was just a bonus.

"Tournament? What Tournament?" Jake asked. Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer he was handed to yesterday after the Duel, and handed to Jake to look at.

"It's a small Tournament to see who is the best and to see who will qualify for the real tournament at Kromes Island," Ryu explained as Jake read the tournament flyer.

"Yeah, it's going to be at the dueling arcade, and you have till Sunday to register for it," Xander added.

"Well, that sucks," Jake said, putting the flyer down on the small table. "I'll be stuck here in the Hospital, and I won't be able to join in," he said with a solemn face.

"It's okay, Jake," Xander said, grabbing the flyer and turning it over to show Jake. "It also says that you can be invited into the main tournament at Kromes Island if you were in the top 5 of a past tournament. So you can still participate since you're a Champion already."

Jake smiled in relief. "Good." he said, reading it for himself.

"Yep, that's why I'm not going to entered this small tournament," Ryu said to Jake. "I came in second to you so I will be invited to Kromes Island Tournament. So, we're going to leave this small Tournament to Xander and hope he'll make it to the top, and if you win this you get a free Duel Disk." Xander's eyebrows rose in surprise. He didn't know that part.

"So, when is this tournament?" Jake asked.

"The small one starts in a couple of weeks at the Dueling Arcade," Ryu answered. "And then the big one starts that Saturday when Spring Break starts and I heard it was suppose last that whole week."

"Wait," Xander said, as a thought popped into his mind. "How are we suppose to get to Kromes Island if we're qualified to go? Are we flying or what?"

"It says here," Jake said, then read aloud, "'On the day of March 16, 2013, Qualifying and Invited Duelists will have to board a Cruise Ship at 11:30 A.M. that will take them to Kromes' Island where a Special Dueling Tournament will be held to see who the Best Duelist will be. If you are not on that Ship by 11:15, then you will miss the chance to be the best duelist in the world.'"

"So, we're going by boat," Ryu said. "Won't that take forever?"

"Depends on how far the Island is," Xander said as he grabbed the flyer from Jake to look at it. "Like, right here, it says it's a two day trip to the Island."

"Oh," Ryu said with a nod. "Where do we stay?" he asked.

"Well," Xander began. "It says that we will have our own rooms, already payed for, on the boat, but there's only one building on the Island and that's where finals are to be held. So, it's saying that we should bring our own camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags, fishing rods, food, etc."

"Great," Ryu said in disappointment. "I hate camping."

Seconds later, a woman in a nurse's uniform walked into the room. "I'm sorry guys, but visiting hours just ended, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave," she said to Xander and Ryu who nodded and stood up, then walked over to Jake and shook his hand.

"See you tomorrow, buddy," Ryu said, shaking Jake's hand first. Jake nodded, and Ryu walked away and stood to wait for Xander who walked up to Jake.

"See ya," he said and shook Jake's hand.

"Train hard and have faith, bro," Jake said. Xander nodded. "And you can win it."

"Thanks, bro," Xander replied with a smile, and then left with Ryu and out of the hospital, and then the two went there different ways, Ryu saying he had to go do something somewhere while Xander went home.

Xander walked into his room later that night, and walked over to his closet. He opened the door and saw an array of clothes and stacks of a few boxes on the floor and at the top shelf. Xander pulled out the cards that Jake said to throw away cause they were weak and wouldn't go well in his deck, but he didn't want to throw them away. He wanted to keep them cause they still meant something to him. They were his first cards ever so he wanted to put them somewhere safe. So, Xander grabbed a small shoe box that was under a smaller box and pulled, accidentally bringing down the top box that fell to the ground, making a clinging sound which sounded weird to Xander.

He looked down at the box that fell to see that it had opened up on impact and something spilled out, and there on the ground was a golden item. Xander kneeled down and picked up the golden item. It was a ring with a triangle inside it, and inside that triangle was an a eye inside the triangle, and outside the ring on the bottom half were a set of five small pointers, and at the top was another tinier ring where one could put a string through it.

'_Hey, this is that thing I found in the Alley that one day a few weeks ago by accident,' _Xander thought to himself while he examined the Ring. '_It was that day when Solomon's buddies knocked me down with my books flying every where. I remember it as if it happened yesterday.'_

FLASHBACK

After school, Xander was walking home with a armful of books. It was sprinkling and he was trying to get home as quick as he could and covered his books with his arms to keep them from getting wet. He arrived half way through a block and decided to take a shortcut and walk down the alley, one where Ramos and Burt happened to be, in the middle of that Alley smoking weird smelling cigarettes. Xander sucked in his breath and still decided to go through alley as it would get him quicker to his house.

Once he was a few feet away, Ramos noticed him and smirked. "Look here, Burt. It's Rikes," he said, pointing at Xander with a cigarette in between his fingers. Burt turned and saw Xander too, and smirked. Xander stopped in front of the two goons, breathing heavily through his nose, and when he tried to pass, the two goons stepped in front of him.

"Come on, guys, let me pass," Xander said, tightening his grip on his books, but the two Goons didn't move. "I need to get these books home before the get all wet."

"You here that, Ramos," Burt spoke. "He's all worried about his precious little schoolbooks." Ramos laughed as Burt violently grabbed one of Xander's books, a math book, and held it up to the sprinkling rain. Xander tried to reach for it back, put was only pushed back by Ramos. "Your are such a geek, Xander," Ramos said. "Only you would care about your stupid schoolbooks and homework."

"These books will get make me smarter and get me into a good college," Xander said with a glare. "Unlike you, where you two will end up flipping burgers or bagging groceries."

"Watch it, Rikes," Burt growled as he tossed up the math book and then caught it. "Or this book might just slip out of my hands!" Xander didn't say anything, but continued to glare at the goons. Suddenly, Burt tossed up the book again and this time, it went right through his hands and fell into a small puddle, drenching the whole book with dirty water.

"You idiot!" Xander shouted in a shocked voice.

"Watch what you say, punk!" Burt growled out and pushed Xander to the ground, where his books fell out of his arms and flew to the ground, but luckily, none of them flew into puddles. Ramos and Burt laughed while they walked away.

Xander sighed and stood back up, wiping off his backside and then began to pick up his schoolbooks. When he reach his wet math book, something shiny out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned his head to see the edged of something golden and curvy inside a wet and torn cardboard box. He set down his books in a clear spot to investigate what the shiny object was. He walked over to box and opened it up to reveal a golden ring with the triangle, eye, and five pointers.

Xander picked up the object and found out that it was light weight, and it was entrancing. He smiled and but it into his bag, thinking that it was a very valuable object and since someone was trying to toss it away, he could keep it for good luck or something, or to just have something that looked rare and valuable. He never had things like that. He picked up the rest of his books and quickly walked home.

END FLASHBACK

Since that day that Xander found this item, he had put it in a small box then put it in his closet when the ring didn't do anything special, like it was just a cool looking Jewelry. He forgot about it a couple weeks later, but now, he found it again and forgot how cool it looked. And to Xander, it looked kind of Egyptian like.

Xander set the golden ring aside to put his cards into a shoe box and then placed the box back into his closet. He walked over and picked up the Ring, walked over to his night table and open the drawer and pulled out some white string. He walked over to his bed and sat down with his Egyptian Ring and the string. He then continued to tie his string around the smaller ring and then put it around his neck. He stood up and walked over to his mirror to take a look at himself. The Ring fell halfway down his chest and it looked pretty cool. He smiled and took the Ring off and place it on his night table and turned away, not noticing that the Ring gave off golden light, but when he turned back, the light had already disappeared.

Xander took out his deck and a few new packs he bought and then began to see what he could use or what he didn't need in his deck. He came to the Dark Magician of Chaos and the Dark Magician, his two strongest cards. His two favorite cards, the cards that will help him win more duels with the help of his other cards. Xander continued to open the packs of cards he had bought before he came home, and then looked through them. He found three magic cards to add to his deck, Swords of Revealing Light, Graceful Dice, and Dark Magic Attack. He found on trap card to add, Skull Dice, and then four monster cards; a Jinzo, Jack's Knight, Queen's Knight, and King's Knight. He then shuffled his deck and set it aside and decided to go to bed.

Later that night, while Xander was sleeping, the Ring shone golden light, making a golden eye appear on Xander's forehead and making him have a very strange dream.

'_It was night time, in the desert. A man and a woman wearing brown robes, the man holding onto a large book, walked through the cool night air, towards the middle of the three Pyramids that stood before them. Minutes later, they entered the Pyramid, down the stairs, and into a secret chamber. The woman stood by the entrance as the man walked over to the stone table in the middle of the room, set the book down, opened it, and began chanting some words. But before he could go any further, shouts and screams from many people were heard. _

_The robed man closed the book, picked it up, walked over to the woman, and shoved it into her hands. "Here, take it!" he said to her. _

_"What are you doing?" she whispered fiercely. _

_"I want you to take this book, leave, and hide it somewhere where no one can find it!" the man replied._

_"No, I am not leaving you! I'm staying!"_

_"Nonsense," the man said, shaking his head. "You have to leave. They're not after you, they're after me! Go!"_

_"No! I will not leave you!" the Woman cried, tears coming to her eyes. "I can't leave, I love you!"_

_"As I do to you," the man replied. "But you have to leave cause I want you to leave and I don't want them getting their hand on my book. And don't worry. I will come back when and if the book is found and someone tries to use a spell. And if you are dead by them, I can bring you back! Now, Go! Go!"_

_The woman nodded, hesitated, then ran off, with tears falling down her face. The man turned away with one tear falling down his face, walked over to the table, turned to the entrance of the room, and waited. _

_Minutes later, a group of about 10 Egyptian Soldiers entered the room and surrounded the man in the robe. The lead soldier walked up and faced the robed man. "Where is it Aswad-Aalim?" he asked._

_"Where is what?" Aalim replied straight-faced as the light caught his face, showing of his black colored eyes. _

_"The Book, Aalim!" the lead soldier shouted in the robed man's face. "Where is the Millennium Spell-Book!"_

_Aalim smirked. "It's gone, lost in the desert." The lead soldier growled and backhanded Aalim in the face. _

_"You shouldn't have lost it," he said and looked at some soldiers behind Aalim and nodded. Two Soldiers nodded back and walked about to Aalim and grabbed his arms, knocking him in to his knees. The scene changed the their shadows that were made by the torches at the whole. The leader's shadow pulled out his swords, turned to Aalim, and swung it down, executing the robed man._

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Xander's hand smashed down on his alarm clock, turning off the alarm, and crawled out from under the blankets. He pulled his legs over the edge and to the floor as he sat up, and wiped the tiredness out of his eyes and face. He stood up, stretched out his body and arms.

"What a strange dream," he said to himself as he walked over to his dresser to pull out some clean clothes. Half an hour later, Xander was walking his way towards his school. It was Thursday, and a day away from the weekend. He was also going to go register for the Dueling Arcade Tournament after School and he couldn't wait.

Xander arrived at his high school minutes later, and when he walked into the first hallway, he noticed that the halls were all decorated in different colors of red, pink, and purple. There were different sized hearts on the walls and streamers and balloons on the ceiling.

"What the heck is this?" Xander asked to no one in particular, but a passing student heard him.

"It's Valentine's Day, Genius," she answered as she passed by. "Are you so dumb you forgot what day it is?"

Xander rolled his eyes and continued on his way to go get some breakfast before school started. When he entered the cafeteria, which was half full and also decorated, he noticed that Ryu was at a table by himself asleep on his backpack. So, Xander went to grab some doughnuts and coffee, and walked over and sat across from Ryu.

"Good Morning," Xander said to Ryu who snorted and opened his eyes to see Xander.

"Mornin'," Ryu replied as he stretched out and wiped his face. "What's up?"

"Just eatin' my breakfast," Xander replied, and began to eat his doughnuts. "I wonder who decorated the school. Must have took them forever."

"Yeah, I think it was the decorating committee," Ryu answered, snatching one of Xander's doughnuts, who didn't mind.

"Didn't know we had one of those," Xander said, dipping his doughnut in coffee.

"Yeah, this girl name Tristy Taylor put it together," Ryu replied, taking a bite of his doughnut. "She happens to be in our grade."

"Tristy?" Xander replied, he didn't remember any girl name Tristy. She wasn't in any of his classes. "Who is Tristy? I never heard of her."

"Well, that's her over there," Ryu answered, pointing over to the entrance of the cafeteria. Xander turned around too get a look at the Tristy girl. His eyes widened at what he saw. She was very pretty, as she had long curly brown hair with hazel-colored eyes, tan skin, 5 foot 7, with a slim, curvy, and fit figure. But that's not why his eyes widened. His eyes went wide because of the necklace that she wore around her neck. It was golden, and it had the eye that his golden Ring had; the very same.

Ryu smirked as he noticed Xander taking a bit to stare at Tristy. "Don't be fooled by her beauty, Xander," he said. Xander shook his head and looked back at Ryu.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"She might be beautiful but she has a fiery attitude," Ryu replied, finishing his doughnut. "And she happens to be a very good duelist, finishing in third at the last tournament me and Jake were in."

"Really?" Xander said, taking a glance at the necklace around Tristy's neck. "What do you know about that necklace around he neck?" he asked. "Have you seen it before?"

"Yeah, everyday," Ryu answered. "She practically never takes it off. Heard she received it from her mother or something, but that is the key as to how she is a good duelist. Says it's her good luck charm, but there is something else as well."

"What do you mean?" Xander asked with interest.

"I'm not sure," Ryu answered, crossing his arms over the table, leaning on them. "It's like she knows what moves her opponent is about to make, but apparently it wasn't enough against Jake who totaled her with his strongest monster card."

"So, you're saying that Tristy is a Psychic?" Xander said with doubt. Ryu nodded and Xander laughed. "No way. There's no such thing."

"Well, it's true," Ryu assured while Xander rolled his eyes, not believing a word. There was no such thing as Psychics. But something else popped into Xander's mind.

"Ryu," Xander called getting his attention. "Who won 4th and 5th place in the tournament you and Jake were in?" he asked curiously.

"Well, there was the guy I dueled, Rocky Lion," Ryu answered, trying to think back. "He's a native american who cards revolve around stone and beast based monsters. And then the person Tristy duels before Jake. A kid named Johnny Laruso. His monsters are based around a bunch of different kind of warriors, like Ninjas." Xander nodded.

"Cool," Xander said. "What about Tristy's cards?" But before Ryu answered, someone else answered.

"Maybe you can figure that out yourself later on," said a feminine voice. Ryu and Xander turned to see Tristy standing next to their table. "Ryu." she greeted.

"Tristy," Ryu greeted back.

"And you are?" Tristy asked Xander who was looking at her necklace, then looked at her in the face.

"Xander Rikes," Xander answered with a small smile, as Tristy rose an eyebrow.

"So you're the Novice who beat Solomon in a duel," Tristy said. Xander gave a nod of confirmation. "Interesting, and it was your first duel. Solomon is a good duelist, but he can get a bit distracted, which is one of his weaknesses."

"Yep, all I had to do was follow the advice that Jake gave me."

Tristy raised another eyebrow. "Jake, huh? I'm sorry to hear what happened to him. So, you want to know what kind of cards I hold, am I right?" she asked.

Xander shrugged and nodded. "Sure, why not?" he replied.

"Alright," Tristy said. "How bout' we duel today after school, at the Dueling Arcade?"

Xander looked at Ryu and quickly shook his head with widened eyes, then turned back at Tristy. "Okay," he answered with a nod, while Ryu dropped his head in his arms.

Tristy smirked. "Okay, I will see you at the Dueling Arcade at 5," she said, and then walked away, while Xander took one last glance at her golden eye necklace.

"What, are you crazy man?" Ryu said, getting Xander's attention and looked at him questioningly. "You can't go against her!" he said fiercely.

"Why not?" Xander aske with a raised eyebrow.

Ryu sighed heavily. "Did you not just here what I just said about here 10 seconds ago?" he said to Xander who waved it off just as the bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to your first class.

"I heard," he replied as him and Ryu stood up, grabbing their bags, and began leaving the cafeteria. "But I don't believe in that psychic mumbo jumbo. There's no such thing," he added, trashing his leftover coffee in a nearby trash can.

"Even if you don't believe," Ryu said. "She is still a really good duelist. She came in third, remember? And she did come close to beating Jake, but he pulled through. But others haven't been so lucky. I haven't been able to beat her, though we only dueled once."

"You lost against Solomon, and yet, I beat him," Xander said. Ryu rolled his eyes.

"That's not my point, Xander," he said. "Tristy is a very good strategist. I believe she is better that Solomon too. She has been at this Dueling the same time as Jake, when Duel Monsters was first created. Way before she had her good luck charm. She's very tricky."

"Don't worry," Xander said with a sigh. "I been practicing since my first duel, and I can win if I have faith. And besides, I have a good luck Charm of my own."

"You do know that your first duel was like a couple days ago, right?" Ryu said. Xander nodded. "Okay, just making sure that you know." And the two walked to their first class.

During the whole school, Xander couldn't help think that Ryu may be right this time. If she is what she, then Xander will lose his second duel. Maybe he was in over his head this time and tell Tristy to call it off. '_But then people will think I'm a coward and I'm not. I don't want to be called a Coward nor do I want to lose and be humiliated.' _Xander thought to himself. '_What do I do? Ryu would again tell me that I'm crazy, but then Jake would help me and tell me to have faith and believe in the Heart of the Cards and then I can win. But I can't always depend on my friends to help me out in duels, Sometimes I just have to show them that i can depend on myself just when they're absent at a Duel that I'm in. Alright, my decision is made. I will go through with the duel and hope that I can win this duel._

After School, Xander, accompanied by Ryu, both began to leave the school when someone called Xander's name. "Xander! Hey Xander! Wait up there!"

Xander and Ryu stopped and turned around to see a skinny, caucasian boy, with shaggy and unkempt brown hair, blue eyes, about 5'5, wearing a skinny black jacket and pants, running up to him. "Who's that kid?" Ryu asked as the two Juniors waited for the fellow student.

"Oh, that's my sister's friend, Ziggy," Xander answered with an annoyed expression. "He's very hyperactive, if you know what I mean. And he kinda looks up to me."

"Wait, you have a sister?" Ryu asked, only hearing that. "And she goes to our school?" Xander nodded.

"Yeah, she's a Sophomore," he said as Ziggy stopped in front of the two older teens. "What do you want, Ziggy?"

"Is it true?" The hyperactive boy asked excitedly, breathing heavily. "Is it really true? Did you really beat Solomon in a Duel Monster's Duel? Huh?"

"Uh, yeah I did," Xander answered while rubbing the back of his head, a bit embarrassed by the younger teen.

"Wow, that's really awesome!" Ziggy said with a big grin. "Why didn't you tell me you played duel monsters? Huh? Cause I play too, though I'm just a beginner nor I haven't won a match yet but I really like it. It's so amazing and stuff, have you been to the Dueling Arcade yet? You should go! It's so Cool!"

"This guy's quite the chatter box isn't he," Ryu said to Xander who nodded as the two watched Ziggy babble on and on.

"Not causing trouble, are you Ziggy?" asked a girly voice from a few feet away. Ziggy stopped as the three boys' heads turned and saw Jasmine, Xander's younger sister. Ryu's jaw dropped, and Xander noticed. Jasmine walked up to the three boys.

"Hey Jasmine!" Ziggy greeted.

"Hey sis," Xander greeted, and then noticed that Ryu's jaw was still opened so he elbowed him and the stomach.

"Oh, uh, Hi," Ryu greeted, snapping out of his trans, causing Jasmine to giggle. "I'm Ryu Bakers, Xander's friend."

"Hi, I'm Jasmine," Jasmine greeted back with a small smile as Xander eyed Ryu. "So, what are you guys up to?" she asked the boys.

"Oh, well, I have a Duel to go to in a couple of hours, so me and Ryu were going to go practice at my our house before the Duel started and pass the time," Xander explained to his little sister.

"Wow, really?" Ziggy said excitedly. "Another duel? Is it at the Dueling Arcade! Well, if it is, can i come and watch and cheer you on? Huh? Can I? Can I? Can I?"

"If we say yes, will you stop talking?" Ryu asked the younger boy.

"I'll try, but i can't make any guarantees!" Ziggy answered while Ryu chuckled. Minutes later, the Quad was walking towards the Rikes Residence. Ziggy was walking next to Xander and was bombarding him with questioning while Ryu was making Jasmine laugh, walking behind the two. Xander wasn't really listening to Ziggy as he was listening to Ryu and Jasmine. _'How dare he flirt with my sister?' _Xander thought to himself.


	4. Psychic JuJuMagumbo

Chapter 4: Psychic Ju-Ju-Magumbo

A few minutes later, the Quad arrived at the Rikes' Residence and entered the house. Xander and Ryu went to Xander's room upstairs while Ziggy and Jasmine stayed downstairs to help each other with their homework.

Xander entered his room with Ryu following closely behind. "You're sister doesn't have a boyfriend, does she?" Ryu asked as he tossed his bag aside and sat down in a chair.

Xander tossed his bag down, sat on his bed, and looked at Ryu strangely. "Not that I know of, why?" he asked, but he knew the answer. "You're not trying to make move on my sister, are you, Ryu?" he asked suspiciously.

Ryu blushed and gave a sheepish smile. "Of course not, buddy," he answered as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well, i mean, if it's okay with you and all. I mean if I have your permission and stuff or whatever."

"You don't need my permission to date me nor does she need it to date you," Xander asked as he pulled out his deck, though he didn't like what he just said. He was very protective of his sister, but he wasn't going to tell her who she can or can't date. Ryu sighed and smiled to himself as he pulled out his deck. "But you do have some competition there." Xander said out of the blue.

"Who?" Ryu asked as he shuffled his deck.

"Ziggy," Xander answered as he too shuffled his deck. "I think he likes her to, so you better watch out, cause he can be quite Determined and charming some times." Ryu's eyebrows raised and then smirked. He thought that Ziggy wasn't competition at all. He could take him.

When Ryu move slightly, some bright light blinded his eye. He quickly moved out of the blinding light and looked over to the source to see a golden item over by Xander's bed. "Xander, what's that?" he asked, pointing to the golden item.

Xander looked to where Ryu was pointing and saw his golden Egyptian Ring. "My good luck charm," he answered with a small smile, then continued to look at his deck.

"Okay, but what exactly is it?" Ryu asked. "Where the heck did you get it anyways?"

"I don't know exactly what it is," Xander answered, setting his cards down to pick up the golden ring and put the string over his neck. "I found it in an alley a few blocks away. It was cool so I brought it home and dubbed it my good luck charm. I'm going to wear it while I duel at 5."

"You think that it will help?" Ryu asked thinking that it did look pretty cool. Xander nodded. "What do you call it, or whatever?"

"My Golden Egyptian Ring, i guess," Xander replied while looking at the room. "It's the only thing I could think of."

"Well, it's golden, looks Egyptian like, and it does have a Ring with a triangle inside it," Ryu said. "I think it's a good enough name for it."

"Thanks." Xander replied with a chuckle.

When the clock came around at 5 o'clock, Xander, Ryu, Ziggy, and Jasmine entered the Dueling Arcade, where the looked around for Xander's next opponent. "Where is she?" Jasmine asked, looking around with the others.

"I don't know," Xander answered. "I don't really see her anwhere. Do you, Ryu?" Ryu shook his head no, and the Quad walked a bit further into the Arcade.

"This place is pretty amazing," Jasmine said, looking around with her eyes full of interest and curiosity. "I think I would like to try Duel Monsters."

"Maybe I could teach you," Ryu and Ziggy said at them same time, then eyed each other suspiciously, while Xander raised an eyebrow at both teens in amusement; Jasmine not noticing the exchange. Seconds later, the Quad began walking around the Dueling Arcade to look for Tristy, then finally found her in the last Dueling Arena, leaning against the Arena wall with a couple of her girl friends. She pushed off the wall when she noticed Xander and her friends walk into the area.

"You're late," she said to Xander whose eyebrows shot up as the Quad stopped in front of the group of girls. "I thought'd you chicken out or something."

"Nope," Xander replied as he stuck his hands in his pocket. "I never run from a challenge." he said confidently.

"Confidence," Tristy said with a tiny smirk. "I like that," she added, making Xander blush. "But you should've of stayed home. An amateur like you would never last in a duel with me." She said which angered Xander.

"We'll see about that," Xander said, unzipping his jacket and taking it off, revealing his Ring to Tristy and everyone else.

"That's a nice little necklace you got there," Tristy said to Xander, eyeing the golden Ring.

"I could say that same about yours," Xander replied.

"How bout we make this interesting?" Tristy spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"We make some bets," Tristy answered. "If I win, I get your necklace!"

"And If I win?" Xander asked.

Tristy snorted, then answered, "If you win, then you can take me on a date. _If_ you win."

"Alright," Xander agreed and shook Tristy's hand.

"Don't get your hopes up," she said. "I rarely lose."

"Right," Xander replied, and then walked off to his side of the dueling Area. Tristy smirked and then walked over to her side of the Arena while the others walked towards the sidelines where the could see the Duel better.

Xander and Tristy took out their decks and set them to the side of their smaller areas and said, "Let's Duel!" at the same time, then Xander added, "Ladies first."

"Don't mind if I do," Tristy said as she then drew he card. "Just don't go crying to mommy when I defeat you in little while." Xander rolled his eyes and waited for his opponent to make her first move. Tristy then continued to lay down a card. "I summon a monster facedown in defense mode!" she started of and the pulled out another card. "Then I play this magic field card, The Sanctuary in the Sky!" And then, on Tristy's side of the field, a large temple surrounded by clouds materialized above Tristy's head. "This will allow my fairy-type monsters to have a boost of power in attack points by 500. So, I end my turn."

_Fairy type monsters? _Xander thought to himself and drew a card. _This won't seem so tough. _Xander then looked at his hand. He had Queen's Knight, Stop Defense, Trap Hole, Celtic Guardian, Dark Blade, and he just drew a Skull Dice. _Alright, what should I play first. _

Tristy watched as Xander looked at his cards. _Ok, time to see what he's going to do, _she thought to herself and then closed her eyes. _Millennium Necklace, it is time to show me what Xander's going to play in the Duel. Now! _No one noticed Tristy close her eyes, nor that her Necklace began to glow a bit, nor the eye that appeared on her forehead.

Inside Tristy's mind, she was shown what what Xander was doing, and then it flew towards him, but then, she was shown nothing but a golden triangle with an eye inside it. The same eye that was on her necklace. _What is this? Why can't I see Xander's feature. Why won't it show me his duel? It must be that Ring he's wearing. It must have some kind of power like mine and it's blocking my psychic powers, _Trsty thought as she opened her eyes and the glow was gone from the necklace, so was the eye from her forehead. _I guess I have to duel him like how i used to before i got this necklace. Nevertheless, I can still beat him easily. I'm still a pretty good duelist and he's nothing but a novice. _

"Alright," Xander said as he through down a card. "I summon Dark Blade(Atk/Def:1800/1500) in attack mode!" And the monster Dark Blade materialized on his side of the field. "Go, Dark Blade, attack her face down monster!" Dark Blade pulled out his sword, ran over, and sliced Tristy's facedown monster in half, which then disappeared after showing what the monster was.

"Go Xander!" Jasmine shouted from the sidelines.

"Alright, Xander!" Ryu and Ziggy both cheered.

"You destroyed my Nova Summoner," Tristy said with a smirk. "And you also triggered my monster's effect!"

"Which is?" asked a confused Xander.

"When Nova Summoner is destroyed in battle and sent to the graveyard, it's effect allows me to summon another fairy-type monster from my deck to the field with 1500 ATk points or less, however, if I have The Sanctuary in the Sky face up on the field, I can special summon a certain monster from my deck," Tristy explained as she looked through her deck, pulled out a card she wanted and then shuffled her deck. "So, I summon the AirKnight Parshath(ATk/Def:1900/1400) in attack! And don't forget, my monster gets a power boost going from 1900 to 2400 Attack points!"

_Great, _Xander thought. _How am I going to beat that monster? Wait I have an Idea! _"I place one facedown card," Xander said, placing down a facedown magic card. "And I end my turn!"

Tristy smirked, and then drew he card. "Get ready to lose, Xander!" she shouted. "Go, AirKnight, destroy his Dark Blade!" The AirKnight then flew over towards Dark Blade and was about to attack, when...

"Not so fast!" Xander shouted holding up his hand, surprising Tristy. "I play my trap card!" he said as the card flipped up and revealed, "Skull Dice!" And the card game to life as a demon sprite holding a red die flew out of the card. "This card allows me to roll the dice and whichever number it lands on, your monster's attack points are reduced by dividing by that number! So I just need a two and your monster is toast! Go, Skull dice!" Xander shouted, and the sprite tossed down the dice that rolled for a couple of seconds. It ended up landing on the number one, to Xander's horror, but Tristy's delight. "No!"

"Ha!" Tristy said. "It landed on a one so it had no effect on my monster, so AirKnight, destroy his Dark Knight!" she commanded, and the AirKnight destroyed Dark Blade, taking down some points, from 4000 to 3400.

"It's okay, Xander," Ryu shouted. "Don't worry, things like this can always happen."

"Yeah, don't give up!" Jasmine shouted. Xander looked at her and nodded with a re-assuring smile.

"I place a facedown, and I end my turn," Tristy said, placing down a card.

Xander drew his next card and looked at it. He still had Queen's Knight, Stop Defense, Trap Hole, and Celtic Guardian, and he just drew a Spell-Binding Circle. _Alright, but I think I'll save this for later, _Xander thought to himself.

"Alright," Xander breathed out, then placed down a card. "I place down a monster in defense mode! And the I place two face-down cards and I end my turn!" he finished with a sigh.

Tristy drew her next card and smirked. "I summon the monster Harvest Angel of Wisdom(Atk/Def:1800/1000) in attack mode and because of my spell card, he gets a power boost of 500 atk points making him have a total of 2300!" she shouted throwing down her card, and the monster materialized next to her AirKnight. "Now, go my Harvest Angel and attack his facedown monster!" The Harvest Angel flew over and destroyed Xander's defensive monster which was his Celtic Guardian. "Now, AirKnight, destroy his Life-Points directly!" And the AirKnight flew towards Xander, but he was ready.

"I don't think so!" Xander shouted, and then waved his hand across. "Reveal my trap!" And one of his facedown cards flipped up. "Spell-Binding Circle!" he shouted, noticing Tristy's surprised yet angry face. "My trap binds your monster in a magical circle that keeps him from attacking and that's not all, it reduces his attack by 700 points, going down to 1700!"

"Way to go, Xander!" Ryu shouted. "Keep it up!"

"Nice one," Tristy said. "You're turn."

Xander nodded and drew his next card. It was his only Jar of Greed, as he discarded the other two from his deck. He put the card with his Trap Hole and Queen's Knight. And now, he should play it just in case. "I play my Jar of Greed!" Xander shouted. "Allowing me to draw two more cards!" Xander drew two cards which were Card Destruction and his Graceful Dice. "Okay, I play one facedown card and then play Card Destruction which makes us discard our hand and then draw the same amount of cards we had in our hand!" Tristy and Xander discarded their hand and then drew their same amount of cards. Xander drew three cards, and now had King's Knight, Monster Reborn, Archfiend Soldier, and his Magician of Faith. He then looked down and had Graceful dice on the field and Stop Defense as well.

"Anytime now," Tristy said, looking bored.

"Alright," Xander said, then putting down a monster card. "I play one monster down in defense mode, and end my turn!"

"Finally," Tristy said, drawing her next card. "I play Premature Burial! And when I pay 800 life-points, taking them from 4000 to 3200, I can bring back a monster from my graveyard and I chose Nova Summoner!" Xander started to feel overwhelmed, and he only had one monster to protect him, and she now had three. "But I sacrifice my Nova Summoner and my AirKnight to summon..." Xander's eyes widend a bit as the a new monster was materializing. "Athena(Atk/Def:2600/800) in attack mode! And because of my field card, she gets an attack of 3100! Luckily I have to wait one turn for her to attack, but I can still attack with my Harvest Angel! Go, attack his facedown card!" And the Harvest Angel attacked his Magician of Faith.

"You destroyed my Magician of Faith activating its effect which allows me to take a magic card from my graveyard and I chose Jar of Greed!" Xander said, taking the card from his graveyard.

"So what," Tristy murmured. "Your turn!"

Xander drew his next card which happened to be a a Mystical Space Typhoon. _Sweet, just what I needed!_ Xander thought. "I play my Jar of Greed and draw two more cards." Xander drew his two cards which were Jack's knight and Fusion Sword Murasame Blade, and added it to his King's Knight, Monster Reborn, and Archfiend Soldier. _Okay, I think I have something here. _"First, I play Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your field card, the Sanctuary in the sky reducing your monsters' attacks" Harvest Angel's attack went back to 1800 and Athena's back to 2600. "Then, I summon King's Knight(Atk/Def:1600/1000) in defense mode!" And then Knight materialized on his side of the field, defensively.

"Ha, your monster's weaker than mine!" Tristy said.

"Yeah, What gives?" Ziggy said, confused at Xander's move.

"I think Xander's up to something," Ryu told him.

"I'm not done yet," Xander shouted, placing down a magic card. "I play my Monster Reborn to bring back my Queen's Knight(Atk/Def:1500/1400) in defensive mode! And it just so happens that I can summon another monster thanks to King's Knight affect, which says when I control this card and Queen's Knight, I can summon Jack's Knight which so happens to be in my hand." Xander said. "So, I summon Jack's Knight(Atk/Def:1900/1000) in attack mode!"

"It's still not strong enough!" Tristy growled.

"It will be when I play this magic card!" Xander said, throwing down the card. "Fusion Sword Merasame Blade! And I equip it to Jack's Knight, adding 800 attack points, giving him a total of 2700 hundred attack points, stronger than your Athena! Go, Jack'e Knight, attack her Athena!" And the Knight ran forward.

"Not so fast," Tristy shouted, holding up her hand. "You triggered my trap, Negate Attack!" And Xander's monster's attack was negated.

"I end my turn," Xander finished. He had three monsters on the field with Stop Defense and Graceful dice down, while Tristy had two monsters but no magic or trap cards.

Tristy drew he next card. "I summon Shining Angel in defense mode, which triggers Athena's special ability!" she shouted with a smile.

"Which is?" Xander asked, a little nervous.

"Every time I summon a fairy type monster, Athena inflicts your life-points directly by 600!" Tristy explained while Xander and Ryu looked a bit horrified. "Go, Athena, attack his life-points directly!" Athena ran and jumped. Xander screamed as Athena attacked his life-points directly, making them go from 3400 to 2800. Tristy was back in the lead with 3200. "I then place Athena and Harvest Angel in defensive mode, place down a facedown card and end my turn."

Xander drew his next card which was a Magic Jammer and added it to his Archfiend Soldier. "I place on facedown card," he said, placing down the card. "Then I play Stop Defense on your Shining Angel, switching it to Attack mode!"

"Way to go, Xander!" Ziggy shouted from the sidelines.

"Keep it up, Xander," Ryu shouted. "You're doing good!"

"No!" Tristy screamed.

"Yes," Xander replied. "Then I switch King's Knight into attack mode, and play Graceful Dice! Which allows me to roll a dice and increase my monster's attack, multiplied 100x by the number it lands on!" An angel imp flew out of the magic card and rolled a blue dice, and to Xander's delight, but Tristy's anger, it landed on a six. "Alright, King's Knight's Attack is doubled from 1600 to 2200! Now, go attack her Shining Angel!" And the King's Knight pointed his sword forwards and ran towards the Shining Angel only to attack a wall. "What happened?"

"You activated my trap card," Tristy said, and her card revealed itself as..."Mirror Wall! It blocks your attacks but not also that, it halves your monster's attack!"

"No!" Xander shouted in horror as King's Knight's attack went back down to 1100.

"Yes!"

"I end my turn!" Xander growled out.

"Finally," Tristy said, and then drew her next cardm then smirked. "I sacrifice my Harvest Angel of Wisdom and my Shining Angel to summon my Guardian Angel Joan(Atk/Def:2800/2000) in attack mode! And sense I summoned another fairy monster, go Athena, attack his life-points directly!" Athena flew over Xander and attacked his life-points once again, taking them down from 2800 to 2200. "And since my Angel Joan was special summoned, I have to wait one turn to attack. I end my turn."

Xander breathed heavily through his nose and drew his next card which happened to be Mirror Force. _Alright, I can use this when Tristy attacks, _he thought, then placed it down. "I place down one card facedown. Now, go Jack's Knight, attack her Athena!"

"Xander, no!" Ryu shouted, but it was too late as Jack's Knight hit the same wall that King's Knight did.

"What!" said a horrified Xander, and Jack's attack points halved from 2700 to 1350.

"Oops," Tristy said innocently. "Did I forget to tell you that Mirror Wall was a Permanent trap? Sorry about that," she said as Xander growled and clenched his fists. He looked on the field and yes, Mirror wall was still there. How could he not see it before. Tristy now had two powerful monsters and his were now weak. But he still had Mirror Force on his side. "I end my turn!"

"Xander, your monsters!" Ryu shouted.

"What?" Jasmine asked him.

"He left them in attack mode," Ryu answered. "And when Tristy attacks, he'll lose life-points points."

"On no," Jasmine said.

"He still has two facedown cards, maybe they'll be of help," Ziggy assured the two.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those," Ryu said.

"I draw my card!" Tristy said, and drew her next card. "I switch my Athena from defense to attack mode, and I summon Dunames Dark Witch(Atk/Def:1800/1050) in attack mode, letting my Athena attack you directly once more!" Athena then attacked Xander's life-points for a third time, bringing them down from 2200 to 1800. "Now, all my monsters, attack his three monsters and take out all of his life-points!" All three of Tristy's monsters shot angel beams to attack.

"I activated my trap card, Mirror Force!" Xander shouted and his trap card was revealed. The monsters' attacks hit a mirror wall that bounced off and crashed into the Mirror Wall.

"Ha!" Tristy laughed. "You thought you could get me to destroy my own monsters?"

"Not really," Xander smirked with his arms crossed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasmine asked Ziggy and Ryu who both shrugged cluelessly.

"Why are you smirking?" Tristy asked her opponent. "You should be frustrated and angry!"

"Because," Xander said, and then pointed. "Look at your wall."

"Oh No!" Tristy said horrified. Her Mirror wall was cracked, and a couple of seconds later, the wall fell, leaving her monsters open to be attacked. "No way!"

"Yes way," Xander replied, as Tristy glared down at him. "The power of your monsters was to strong for your wall!"

"Your turn!" she said.

"Don't mind if I do," Xander said. _Come On, give me a good one, _He thought, then drew his card, which turned out to be Swords of Revealing Light. _Yes, this gives me some time to get what i need. _"I play my Swords of Revealing Light!"

"NO!" Tristy shouted while Ryu shouted, "Yes!"

"This will keep your arsenal of monsters from attack for three turns, allowing me to get my head together!" Xander replied. "I switch all my monsters to defense mode just in case, and then I end my turn!"

Tristy drew her next card and put it in her hand. "I end!" she said.

Xander nodded and drew up his next card, which was his Polymerization card. _I can use this later, but I have to find a way to clear Tristy's field of monsters._ he thought. "I end my turn," he said aloud.

Tristy drew one card. "I place one facedown card, and I end my turn, and in just one more turn, Xander, you are done for." she said.

Xander gulped. _Okay, this is getting a bit riskier, if I draw the card I need now, then I can win this game, but i'm going on chance here,_ Xander thought to himself. He drew his next card and sighed in disappointment. It was a his Alligator's Sword and not the card he needed. "I end my turn!" Xander said through his teeth.

"Getting frustrated I see," Tristy said a smirk, then drew a card. "I end My turn. Next turn, then I can attack and win this duel!"

Xander looked at his deck. _Okay, this is getting really bad. If I lose, I lose my golden Ring, another thing i feel a connection to, just like my Dark Magician of Chaos. I don't want to let it go, I can't lose, but if I don't draw the card I need, then will lose and then lose my gold Ring. Why did I agree to these terms, or better yet, why did i agree to duel her. She is way much more better than Solomon. I am so going to lose!_

"What's wrong there?" Tristy asked. "Have you finally come to terms that you're going to lose this duel? What could make you think that you could even beat me?" she asked, while Xander bowed his head. _She's right, _he thought.

"Come on, Xander," Ryu shouted. "Don't give up."

"Come on, big brother, I know you can do it!" Jasmine shouted.

"Yeah, Xander, you've got this in the bag!" Ziggy added. _No I don't, _Xander thought to himself, and began to shake. _I am such an Idiot. I can't beat this girl. I can't win this, there's nothing I can do cause the card I'm going to draw is going to be the wrong one. _

"Come on, Xander! Have faith in your cards!" shouted someone familiar. _That sounded like Jake, but it must have been in my head, cause Jake's in the Hospital, _Xander thought with his eyes closed. "Believe in the Heart of the Cards!"

_Wait a minute. _Xander opened his eyes and looked over to his friends to see Jake smiling and in a wheelchair. "Come on, Xander! You can still win this! All you have to do is..."

"Believe in the Heart of the Cards!" Xander finished and was suddenly filled with Hope. "I can Win!"

"In your dreams!" Tristy shouted. "There's no way you can win this duel! That Ring is as good as mine!"

"I can win!" Xander shouted, and then drew his last card. "With this! Raigeki! Destroy all her monsters on the field!" He ordered, throwing down his last magic card, in hopes of winning.

"Not so fast!" Tristy said with a smirk. "I figured you play some magic card so i laid down De-Spell! It's over!" But Xander just started chuckling. "What's so funny!"

"I knew you'd play a magic card as well," Xander replied. "That's why I laid this down a few turns ago and waited for the right time to use it. Reveal my Magic Jammer. I discard one card from my hand to destroy any magic card, and I chose your De-Spell!" Xander discarded one of his cards and Tristy's De-spell was destroyed. "Now, Raigeki, continue to destroy her monsters!" And a blast of lightning appeared and destroyed all her monsters leaving her defenses wide open.

"Alright, Xander!" His friends cheered.

"No way," Tristy breathed out, not believing that this was happening.

"Now, there's one thing left to do!" Xander shouted, and through down one more card. "I use the magic card, Polymerization to fuse all three of my Knight's to summon..." All three Knight's monsters turned into energy and flew together and created..."Arcana Knight Joker(Atk/Def:3800/2500) in attack mode! Go, Arcana Knight Joker! Destroy all of her life-points and end this duel!" And Arcand did, attacked the rest of Tristy's life-points, bring them all the way down to 0.

All of Xander's friends shouted and cheered in triumph for him. Xander and Tristy exited the their dueling areas and met on the sidelines with their friends. Xander walked over to his friends as they gave handshakes, shoulder pats, or hugs. Xander walked up to Jake last. "Jake, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh, my results of my scans came back, and it turns out that I only had broken bones so they were allowed to let met go," Jake explained. "I heard that you were dueling Tristy Taylor and I had to see for myself. And It looks like i came just in time. You looked ready to give up."

"Yeah, I was just about to," Xander replied with a small embarrassing smile. "I was getting way nervous and a bit fearful."

"But you came out on top," Jake added. "And you have faith." Xander nodded, when Tristy walked up to the two boys with her friends behind her. Xander and Jake turned to her when she stopped in front of them. Ryu, Ziggy, and Jasmine joined them to listen in.

"Jake," Tristy greeted Jake who gave a nod. Tristy then looked at Xander. "That was a pretty good duel, one of the best I ever had," she told him with a smile. "I thought that I had the upper hand there more a minute."

"Yeah, it was intense," Xander said with a smile. "But it was fun."

"Yeah, it was," Tristy said and smiled innocently. "Well, I will see you at school," she said and then began to walk away.

"Hold on there, a minute!" Ryu spoke up. "What's about Xander's prize?" he asked, making Tristy stop in her tracks while Xander looked at Ryu with a puzzled look. Jasmine and Ziggy both smiling, cause they remembered what Xander's prize would be if he won.

"Prize?" said a confused Jake. "What prize?"

Tristy slowly turned around to face the group while Ryu answered. "Well, they made stakes at the start of the duel," he said with a smile. "If Xander lost, he would lose the Triangle Ring around his neck there," he said, pointing to the Ring that hung from Xander's neck. "But if he won," he began and then pointed at Tristy. "He would take Tristy on a date!"

"Really?" Jake said while he smirked at Xander who shrugged with smirk of his own.

"But we weren't really serious about that," Tristy said a bit nervously with a blush upon her cheeks. "We were just playing for fun and nothing else..."

"Ah, no," Ryu said, "Don't try and get out of this. Xander won this duel fair and square, so you have to go on a date with him! And you know that if Xander did lose, you would take his Ring and he would solemnly hand it to you, but the problem is, he didn't lose. So, you have to be a man of your word."

"Yeah," Jake spoke up. "I thought you kept your word and never would try to back out of it."

"Yeah, come on, Tristy," Ziggy said, then Jasmine put in, "Take my brother out."

"Alright, fine!" Tristy said, a bit aggravated. "I'll keep my word!" she said, then looked at Xander. "Tomorrow, meet me right after school, and if I don't see you, then there will be no date, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Xander said with a nod. Tristy nodded back and then left with her friends, while Xander turned to his. "Why did you guys give her such a hard time about that? She didn't have to do it if she didn't want to," he said to his friends.

"Look, buddy. We were just trying to help you out," Ryu said and put an arm around Xander's shoulders, and the group began walking away, or in Jake's case, rolling away. "You could use a date or two. And Besides, I know for a fact that Tristy likes the boys that defeat her in a duel."

"How do you know that?" Xander asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh, just ask Jake," Ryu answered simply. Xander turned his head to look at Jake who shrugged and nodded with raised eyebrows.

"So her and Jake?" Xander said, while Ryu nodded, giving him an answer as they left the Dueling Arcade, but nor before Xander and Ziggy registered for the Tournament the would happen later in the Month.

The next day after school, Xander stood outside the school and waited for Tristy. He was a bit nervous as he had never had a date before so this would be his first one ever. He didn't know what to do or how to act. Seconds later, Tristy walked out of the school, but Xander didn't notice her cause he was staring into space.

Tristy sighed and walked over to Xander. "Hey," she greeted, causing Xander to blink and look at her.

"Hey," he greeted with a small smile, and the first thing he saw, was he Eye Necklace, then looked into her eyes. _Hope I don't mess this up, _he thought to himself.

"So, what do you have planned?" Tristy asked expectantly.

"Uh, planned?" Xander repeated a bit nervously. What did she mean, planned?

"Yeah," Tristy said, eyeing Xander. "When two people have a date, the guy is the one who is suppose to surprise the girl with what they're going to do. You do know that, right?"

Xander gulped and then gave a nervously smile. "Of course I knew that," he blurted out, his cheeks blushing. _Great, I already messed it up_. "I just..I..you...I.."

"You didn't plan anything, did you?" Tristy asked in annoyance.

Xander sighed and bowed his head. "No," he answered with a shake of his head, embarrassed.

"It's okay," Tristy said in a soft voice. Xander raised his head and looked at her with a grateful smile. "Boys are always unprepared," she added, turning away, and causing Xander to drop his smile and roll his eyes at her. "Come on, I know a place." Xander sighed and began to follow Tristy.

Half an hour later, Tristy and Xander were sitting in a booth at a diner, sipping on some shakes in awkward silence, but Tristy noticed that Xander was either eyeing her necklace or her exposed cleavage.

"Does something fascinate you down there?" she spoke up. Xander looked up to her eyes and looked at her questioningly.

"Huh?" he said cluelessly.

Tristy sighed. "You keep looking down at me and I don't know if you're looking at my chest or what?" she told him. Xander sat up straight, with his eyes full of surprise and embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry," He said. "I wasn't looking at your chest, but at your interesting necklace, there." he added, pointing at her neck. "Just wondering about it."

"Oh," Tristy said, looking at her necklace, and looking a bit disappointed. "My mother found it about a year ago and bought it for me. It's called the Millennium Necklace. It's very pretty, and it's my good luck charm."

"Is that all it is?" Xander asked, eyeing the necklace suspiciously, remembering what Ryu had told him. _Why am I eyeing this thing? I don't even believe in what Xander told me about her Psychicness, and she didn't even use it on me during the duel so something is weird here. _

"Yeah, why?" Tristy asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"Well, I just heard that you can see people's moves during a duel before they even see it," Xander answered, putting his hands together, and looking at his shake.

"You heard right," Tristy said calmly, causing Xander to look up at her eyes that were full of truth.

"If that's true, why didn't you use it on me during our duel?"

"I was just giving you a fair duel," Tristy lied, not telling him she did try to use it but something was blocking her, and that's when she noticed for the first time today that the thing that blocked her visions was hanging from Xander's neck. "Where did you get that?' she asked, pointing at Xander's Ring.

Xander looked down at his Ring to where she was pointing. "I found it," he answered. "Here in my neighborhood. Someone was trying to get rid of it I guess, cause i found it in a box near the dumpster."

"Oh." Tristy replied eyeing his necklace. _Why haven't i noticed that before? _she thought. _It wasn't there when I met him after school, or at least that i can remember._

"You know, our items are very similar, don't you think?" Xander asked. "They both are gold, have the same looking eye, and they're Egyptian like."

"I agree," Tristy replied. "Something we have in common."

"That and dueling," Xander added with a smile. Tristy smiled back, both not noticing a man in a few booths away, talking on his cell phone.

"Yeah," said the man. "They're here in Los Angeles. I know, but sir. Sir! I have found two Millennium items!"


	5. Spirit of the Ring

Chapter 5: Spirit of the Ring

A tall man wearing a gray business suit was running through one of the biggest industries of the world, Kromes Inc. The suited man ran into an elevator and pressed a button that would take him all the way to the top to an office where the CEO and President of Kromes Inc. resided. Finally, after a few minutes, the elevator reached the desired floor, and then gray suited man exited the Elevator and entered the office of the President and CEO of the company, Kromes Incorporation.

The Office was an ordinary office, but it had a couple of items that a few would have interest in. One of the items was on the desk, and it was a golden scale of some kind, and it had the eye on it just like a couple of other items in the world. The second item was hanging on the hall. It was the shape of a fighting Shield, and it also had a golden eye in the center of it.

The stopped at the desk, breathing a bit heavily, as there was a Man standing by the windows, looking down at the city. He wore a dark blue suit with dark blue soulless eyes and short brown hair. A chair turned around revealing another man. He wore an all black suit with a red tie. He had aging short white air and a goatee. This man was the President and CEO, and his name was Noah Kromes, father of the one and only Solomon Kromes.

"What is it you overgrown pathetic child," Noah growled out. "You interrupted an important conversation I was having with my colleague, Xavier Platt. What is it? Well, spit it out!"

"Sir, Briggs just called me and informed me that he has found two of the Millennium items that you seek!" the gray suited man said heavily, as Noah sat up in surprise as his eyes were filled with excitement.

"Good," Noah replied sitting back, intertwining his fingers. Xavier not moving an inch and still staring out the window. "Which ones? And where are they now?"

"The Millennium Necklace and the Millennium Ring, sir," the gray suited man answered. "And they are here in Los Angeles!"

"What!" Noah shouted. "They're here and you haven't seized them yet?"

"Sir, they are in the hands of two kids," the gray suited man replied. "Briggs and his men couldn't risk being seen by them, or by others when they would try to take their items away."

"Those items belong to me, not in the hands of children!" Noah growled out. "I want you to inform Briggs and his men to get me my Millennium items by any means necessary! You got that!"

"Yes, sir," the gray suited man said with a bow. "I will inform him myself." The gray suited man turned and was about to walk away when he was stopped by his boss.

"Actually, I will have Xavier here inform him, but you will stay," Noah said calmly, making the gray suited man freeze in fear. Noah turned to Xavier, the man who was still staring out the window. "Xavier, I want you to go and inform Briggs to get me my Millennium Items by any means necessary, alright?"

"Yes, sir," Xavier replied automatically and then left the office to do as he was told. The gray suited man gulped and turned to face his boss who was glaring down at him.

"Is something wrong sir?" the gray suited man asked.

"Actually, there is," Noah replied as the Scale in front of him glowed slightly. "I've been hearing rumors about you, Charlie. Can I call you Charlie?"

"I prefer Charles sir," Charlie replied, with a wince.

"Charlie it is," Noah replied. "So, about the rumors I heard." Charlie looked at his boss fearfully but questioningly. "I heard that you, one of my own men, has been selling me out!"

Charlie's eyes widened in horror. "What? Sir, no! That is not true! I would never sell you out!" he shouted as he walked up to his boss's desk. "I am very loyal to you!"

"We shall see," Noah replied as he eyed his scale. "Charlie, do you know what this Millennium Scale does?" he asked. Charlie shook his head. "I can tell me if a person is either lying or being truthful. And you see that feather there, if that side is lowered, Your soul will be transferred to the depths of the Shadow Realm!"

"The what?" Charlie asked.

"You shall see," Noah said, putting a hand on the base of the scale. "Now, you better tell me the truth or you will lose your soul!" Charlie's eyes widened in horror. "Now, I shall ask you. Have you betrayed me in anyway at all? Have you been selling blueprints to other companies to make yourself some extra money?"

Charlie gulped, and bowed his head. "Yes," he said solemnly, falling to his knees..

"As i feared," Noah said as he sat back, releasing his hand from the base of the scale. "Well, off to the Shadow Realm!"

"What? Sir, no!" Charlie cried, his eyes full of fear. "I told you the truth so you wouldn't send me to this Shadow Realm!"

"Yes, I did say that," Noah said, as the Shield on the wall began to shine, and an eye appeared on Noah's forehead. "But what i didn't say is if the truth is that you did sell my plans to other companies is that you will still be sent to the Shadow Realm for betraying my trust!"

"No!" Charlie cried, and then began to run away.

"You can't run!" Noah said, standing to his feet as a beam of light shot from the eye of the shield and hit Charlie in his back, his eyes becoming soulless. "You will spend the rest of the eternity in the Shadow Realm for betraying me, Charles and you will never ever return to the real world! Hahahahahaha!"

* * *

Nearly two weeks have passed since Xander and Tristy's duel, and it was now the day before the Dueling Arcade Tournament. Over the course of the two weeks, Xander grew closer to Ryu and Xander, and he even became friends with Tristy, and all four teens would hang out together and help Xander, or Ziggy on occasion, to train for the upcoming dueling.

The day before the Qualifying Tournament began, Xander, Jake, Ryu, Tristy, Jasmine, and Ziggy were all hanging around in the break room of the Dueling Arcade. Jasmine and Ziggy were having a playful duel. Ziggy and Xander taught her what they knew and she was okay at it. While Xander, Ryu, Jake, and Tristy were talking about the tournament.

"So, Xander, are you ready to take down this tournament and come out on top?" Ryu asked, taking a sip from his blue Powerade. Jake and Tristy looked at Xander expectantly.

Xander shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I am," he answered, playing with his half empty bottle of orange Powerade. "But there may be some good duelists out there tomorrow, so it's possible that it may be challenging to make it up all the way to the top. It's possible that I might not make it to the top."

"Come on, Xander," Ryu said. "Give yourself some credit. You beat two of the very toughest duelists in the city. These other guys will be a piece of cake, trust me."

"Yeah, the only person you have to worry about is Ziggy," Jake said, adjusting his clutches to the floor, next to his chair. He had finally become strong enough to hold his weight on a couple of crutches.

"Why only Ziggy?" Tristy asked with puzzled expression.

"Have you seen his strategy?" Ryu answered rhetorically. "It's like all over the place. You actually don't know what the heck he's going to do. He's basically unpredictable."

"Yeah, when Ziggy dueled Ryu, he actually beat him," Jake said with a smirk.

"That was only once!" Ryu exclaimed, slapping his hand on the table. "And like I said, he was unpredictable, and hard to read what he was going to do."

"I could beat him," Jake replied, then sipped his red powerade.

"Yeah, cause you're a friggin' pro at dueling, Jake, no one could beat you!" Jake replied, finishing his Powerade.

"Oh, I wouldn't say just anyone," said a voice from the table behind him. Everyone's head turned to see none other than Solomon Kromes sitting there alone, reading a Duel Monster's Magazine. He dropped his magazine and looked at the four. "Cause I know that I can beat him," he said.

"Yeah right, Solomon, you couldn't even beat Xander in his first duel," Ryu said. "What makes you think you can beat a person who always comes out on top at every tournament?"

"First off, that duel with the Novice was nothing but a fluke if you ask me," Solomon said, closing his magazine, and glancing at Xander who was staring back blankly. "And I as much as a pro duelist as Jake is and I could take him down easily."

"Would you like to back that up?" Ryu asked.

"Ryu!" Jake whispered fiercely. Ryu turned and looked at him questioningly. "Look, I know you want to see me beat him, but I am not in the mood. I am still hurting a bit and I don't want to stand at thirty feet in the air leaning on these crutches the whole time."

"Oh I see, just afraid to duel me cause you know that you're going to lose," Solomon said, standing and tossing the magazine on the table. "No matter. I have no time for you anyways," he added and then walked off.

"What a punce," Ryu growled under his breath. "He only ran away cause he's afraid of being beaten by you, Jake."

"You know, Ryu, why don't you just challenge him yourself?" Tristy spoke up. "You're always talking about how you want to see him beat, why not beat him yourself." Ryu didn't answer yet glared back at Tristy, then stood up and walked off. "Did I say something wrong?" she asked Xander and Jake who glanced at each other.

"Well..." Jake started to say.

"Tristy, didn't you see Ryu's last duel?" Xander asker her. Tristy shook her head no. "Well, he did duel Solomon a couple of weeks ago, but he lost."

"And?" Tristy said with a raised eyebrow.

"It was on t.v.," Jake replied. "So the whole country saw him humiliated by Solomon, and I think he's a bit nervous to face him again. It's like he lost his confidence of something."

"What does that have anything to do with anything?" Tristy asked, not getting the point. "He's always blabbing about hoping to see Solomon lose and the next tournament, Spring Break, so why don't he just do it now and get it over with."

"Maybe he's not ready," Xander replied. "Maybe he needs a little more time to practice." Tristy shrugged, not caring anymore, and stood up from her seat.

"Well, he better do something if he wants to shut Solomon's mouth," she said. "Well, I'm off. Going to get some studying in for tomorrow's test at school." Tristy then walked off, as Xander watched her leave.

Xander stood up as well. "Yeah, me too," he said, still looking at Tristy, and causing Jake to look at him suspiciously. "I gotta study too. You know, want to keep up the good grades and all," he finished and then ran after Tristy. "Hey, Tristy, wait up," he shouted after her. Tristy turned to see Xander running up to her. "Hey," he said, stopping next to her. "I was wondering if I could walk you home?"

Tristy turned and kept walking, with Xander following. "Xander," she started, not looking at him. "We're friends, ok?" Xander nodded, trying to look into her eyes. "And that's it, nothing more. You've become a really good friend to me, you're nice and sweet, but I don't want to make it more complicated than it already is, ok?"

Xander looked taken back, as he eyes dropped. "No, I didn't mean it like that," he said, trying not to sound disappointed, which worked as Tristy looked over to him and saw that he didn't look disappointed at all. "It's dark and I thought I could just walk you home, for protection, you know? Just as friends, Lotta creeps come out at night," he explained a bit lamely, hoping Tristy bought it.

Tristy nodded, not being able to help that she felt a little disappointed for some reason, too. "Oh, ok," she replied. "Sure." Xander nodded back and smiled, and began to leave the Arcade with her, and into the night. The two walked in silence for a couple of blocks, not saying a word, but to Xander, it felt nice walking next to Tristy and not talking to her. It felt pretty comfortable, and unknown to him, Tristy felt the same way.

As the two teens crossed a dark alley, something metal slammed down, causing the two teens to jump in fright. "Whoa, what the hell was that!" asked Xander, instinctively getting in front of Tristy who stared down the alley as if she was trying to see something down there.

"I don't know," Tristy whispered to Xander, and instinctively grabbed his hand in fright, Xander not noticing, instead trying to stare into the dark alley. "Come on, let's get out of here. This place is creepy."

Xander nodded. "Yeah, I agree," he said, and the two teens turned around, shocked, only to be blocked by several men in black business suits. "Whoa, who the heck are you guys?"

"Yeah, where the heck did you come from?" Tristy asked, grabbing Xander's arm in fear.

"Who we are and where we come from is none of your business!" said one of the black suited men.

"Then what the heck do you want?" Xander growled, trying to be tough, but getting a little scared himself. Who wouldn't be scared of a group of men in black suits appearing out of nowhere.

"What we want is hanging around both your necks!" Answered another black suited man. Trisy and Xander looked down at their golden necklaces. "Those items, the Millennium Necklace and the Millennium Ring is what we want!"

_So that's what it's called, _Xander thought. "Why do you want these things?" Xander asked, as Tristy hugged his arm, getting more afraid. "They're just priceless jewelry!"

"Those priceless Jewelry actually have ancient power, power neither of you could understand!" shouted a black suited man. "So give them up to us now!"

"Why?" Xander growled. "Why should we give them up. We found them, and they rightfully belong to our us!"

"Wrong! They belong to our boss! So, hand them over, now!"

"Never!" Tristy shouted, which was the wrong response, as the black suited men moved forward towards the teens. Xander pushed Tristy away.

"Run!" he shouted at her, then turned and ran towards the men, jumping at them and tackling a couple of them to the ground, as Tristy watched and then took off running as fast as she could.

"Don't let her get away!" shouted one of the men on the ground as the other struggled with Xander. The two black suited men who were standing nodded and chased after Tristy.

"No!" Xander growled as he stood up, and tried to to run after them, but his leg was grabbed by one of the men, as the other stood up to his feet and grabbed Xander but the front of his shirt. The other guy letting go of Xander and standing up next to his friend.

"Don't worry," the suited man holding Xander up by the shirt. "Your little girlfriend won't be harmed...too much." He added.

"You harm her, you and your friends are toast," Xander growled out, and the two men began laughing.

"What are you going to do?" one of the older men rhetorically asked Xander. "Going to duel us to death?" he asked and laughed with his partner. Xander growled and threw a punch, but it was blocked by the guy holding him. Xander looked at him in fear, but a little bit amazed at how this man could hold him up with one hand. Suddenly, he was punched in the stomach. Xander was dropped. He held his stomach and gasped for breath. "You should think next time you try to hit someone, kid." the man growled and then kicked Xander in the chest, flipping him over on his back.

Xander fell to his back with the pain in his chest and looked up to the men where his vision was blurred. _Oh no. They're going to get my Ring. I don't want them to have it. They're bad guys and they'll probably use it just to get money. There has to be something I can do and to do that, i would need a miracle!_

One of the black suited men bent over to grab the Millennium Ring, but something happened. As they were reaching out for it, it glowed very brightly and an eye appeared on Xander's forehead. The glowing light blinded the men who backed up a few few, cover their eyes for protection. And then, the light went away, and when the two men moved their hands to see what happened, they saw that Xander was still on the ground, but that wasn't all. There standing in front of the hurt Xander was another young man. He wore a black robe with a hood up with black sleeveless shirt and dark pants, but no shoes; he was barefoot. But that wasn't the strange part. The strange part was that he was transparent. The two men could see through him, and the golden eye inside his hood as his face was hidden. And he also had a Millennium Ring around his neck.

"What the hell is this?" one of the black suited men shouted in fear, taking a step back. "What kind of trickery is this?"

"This is no trickery," the transparent man replied in a calm voice, then looked at Xander who was on the ground, looking up at the figure through his blurred vision in confusion. The strange figure turned to the two black suited man who were in fear of him, and lifted his arm with an open hand. "Only magic!" and his hand glowed brightly towards the suited men who stood there not able to move, but to stare at the glowing hand. The glowing light went away and the black suited men fell to the ground, their eyes wide and soulless.

Xander saw the whole seen in his blurred vision, yet he didn't understand what was going on, but as he stood up, he was blinded by the golden light from his Ring. When the light went away, so was the transparent figure. Xander rubbed his chest and caught his breath, looking at the two men who were on the ground, which reminded him of the other men.

"Tristy!" Xander shouted as she came to his mind and took off running in the direction she had run off. The scene that had just happened far from his mind. "Tristy!" Xander shouted again, running as fast as he could, pain coming from his chest and abdomen. He crossed the end of the alley and trip on something, falling to the ground bringing more pain to his chest. "Tristy," he groaned out from the ground. He slowly looked up and there she was, lying on the ground, unconscious.

Xander stood up as quick as he could and stumbled over to his friend. He kneeled next to her and shook her. "Tristy? Tristy, are you alright?" he asked, but she was out cold. Xander took out his cell phone and turned the light on to see check on her. The light shone one her face, showing a red spot on the right side of her cheek and a small cut on the side of her head as if someone back handed her with a ring on their finger. Xander shone the light on the rest of her to see that everything was okay, but something was missing and that something was her golden egyptian necklace. The Millennium Necklace was gone.

Xander put his phone away and stood up while picking Tristy up under his arms. "Don't worry, Tristy, I'll get you somewhere safe," he groaned out and began walking away. Ten minutes later, Xander entered his home which was thankfully empty, and strugglingly took Tristy to his room and set her gently down on the bed. Xander stood up straight breathing heavily. He turned over to see himself in the mirror when something caught his eye. His eyes were more greener than usual. He walked closer to the mirror to examine his eyes. Why did the look like that?

Suddenly, Xander felt a sharp pain in his chest. He took his shirt off to see his chest and a small part of his abdomen was bruised a bit badly. His eyes then turned to his Millennium Ring, which it was called, and remembered the blurred scene he had witnessed earlier that night. He touched the Ring and felt warmth soaring through his entire body, and then, the pain in his body was gone. He looked with wide eyes to where his bruises were to see that they were gone.

_What the heck just happened? _Xander thought to himself. _Did the Ring just heal me? But that's impossible, there's just know way!_

_It is Possible, _said a voice in his head, sounding a bit familiar.

_Oh great now my conscience is disagreeing with me, now I'm going crazy, _Xander thought with his eyes closed.

_You are not going crazy, _the voice said again. Xander opened his eyes and turned to look around his room. That time, the voice sounded more clearer and so close.

"Hello?" Xander asked aloud and looked out his door. "Someone there?" He shrugged and walked back into his room where his Ring shone brightly and the eye appeared on his forehead again. Xander hid his eyes, wondering what the heck was going on. And when he removed his hand, there, standing in front of him was the transparent figure from earlier. He was the same height as Xander and his skin was brown, but he couldn't see his face as it was covered by a hood.

Xander stood there frozen in fear, afraid of the figure in front of him. "Do not be afraid," the figure spoke. "I am not here to harm you." The figure removed his hood to reveal a gently looking young man with brown eyes, handsome face, and black buzzed-cut hair. "I am Altair."

"Are you a ghost?" Xander finally asked nervously after a few seconds of silence.

"Something like that," Altair replied, crossing his arms. "I am a a nearly 5000 year old Spirit, the Spirit of the Ring."

And then, it hit Xander. "It was you," he said, pointing to him. "You were the one that appeared earlier when those thugs were going to take the Ring away from me. You...did something to them."

Altair nodded. "I did," he replied with a small smile. "But i had to, to keep them from getting the Millennium Ring. They were not worthy enough to handle the Ring." Xander looked at Altair questioningly. Did that mean he was worthy enough to wield it? And soon got his answer. "But you are worthy enough to wield the Ring. You have a very strong will and a good and strong Heart."

Xander nodded. "Thanks, I think," he replied. "Okay, so you came from the Ring, but how? How did you get in there and why are you here now?"

Altair looked to the ground. "That is something I can't answer," he said, uncrossing his arms.

"Why not?" Xander asked. "Why can't you tell me? Is it some grown up thing or something, cause I'm practically already an adult!"

"No," The Spirit answered. "It's just, I don't know. I don't remember anything. I don't remember why I was inside the Ring. All i remember is that I am from Ancient Egypt and I was stored into the Ring, and that't it."

"Well, that sucks," Xander said, sitting into a chair. "I'm sorry you lost your memory." Altair nodded in thanks, when something else came to Xander's mind. "Those men that attacked us," he started, gaining Altair's attention. "What really happened to them? What did you do?"

Altair's eyes went a bit dark. "I sent them to the Shadow Realm," he answered.

"The what Realm?" Xander asked with a confused expression.

"The Shadow Realm," Altair repeated. "The World of Darkness is another name for it."

"So what is the place?" Xander asked out of curiosity.

"It's a place where one's soul can be sent to live in eternal suffering with no way to get out with the exception of using a Millennium item," Altair answered. Xander stood up abruptly.

"What!" he said fiercely. "You sent those guys souls to eternal suffering? You can't just do something like that! Sure they were trying to rob me, but no one deserves eternal suffering unless they did something really bad, like murdering or something like that!"

Altair blankly stared at Xander, wondering about his outburst. "Why do you get angry? I was only trying to say your life," he said calmly.

"I was fine," Xander said a bit angrily. "I had them right where I wanted them!"

"Strange. To me, you looked like you were getting your backside handed to you," Altair replied with a small smirk.

Xander pointed at Altair. "No matter what you might have seen, that was a strategy I use all the time," he said, pointing through Altair's chest. "If you didn't show up, I would have kicked those guys into next month!" Altair didn't reply, yet continued to smirk. "Now, I want you to return those men's souls!"

Altair's smirk vanished. "Why? With them gone, they won't be of any trouble to you," he replied.

"Because it's not right!" Xander nearly screamed, but quieted down when he saw the girl on his bed slightly move. "Because the didn't deserve it," he added quietly. "Now put them back!"'

"Fine!" Altair growled and but hovered both his hands around the Ring, which glowed for a few seconds. An eye appearing on his and Xander's head, and then went away. The Ring stopped glowing and Altair put his arms down. "There, their souls have returned to their bodies."

"Good," Xander replied with a sigh. "Thank you." Altair gave a nod. "Look, times are different now, you can't go around sealing people's souls away."

"I understand," Altair replied with a nod. "But I must tell you this." Xander nodded for him to continue. "This Ring has chosen you to wield it, and you only. So, this Ring is yours. Don't lose it and don't ever let any one take it from you, or the tremendous power of the Ring could be used for evil. So, keep the Ring with you always, and never let it out of your sight."

"Okay, I get it," Xander replied with a sigh, thinking that things were getting strange. "Don't worry, I won't lose the Ring."

"Xander?" said a voice. Xander froze and turned his head to look at Tristy who had finally woken up and looking back at him with a confused expression. Xander glanced at her then at Altair then back at Tristy. "What's going on?" she asked. "Where am I? What happened?"

"Uh, you're in my room," Xander answered, as Tristy continued to look at him and his bare chest. Xander noticed this, and freaked out. "Oh, uh and this isn't what you think. I...uh...well...I found you unconscious after those guys chased you and I brought you here."

"Oh, I remember," Tristy said, sliding her legs off the bed, and sitting up. "Who were you talking to?" she asked. Xander raised an eyebrow, and pointed next to him, thinking that she could see Altair standing there leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"To Altair," Xander asked, looking at the Ancient Spirit.

"Who?" Tristy asked confusedly looking over to see no one next to Xander.

Xander looked at the girl and then too Altair. "Can she not see you?" he whispered to the spirit. Altair shook his head with a blank expression. "Great," Xander sighed, slapping his hand over his eyes.

"Xander, Are you okay?" Tristy asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Xander answered, walking over to sit in a chair. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I am, but I have a very big headache," Tristy answered, touching her head that ached with pain. Xander looked at her and saw the small cut on her forehead, which he forgot about. "Those guys really hit hard."

Xander didn't answer, not knowing what to say. "We can help her," Altair spoke up. Xander looked at him with wide eyes. 'How?' he mouthed, but Altair looked at him funny. _Oh yeah, I have to speak out loud for him to hear me,_ Xander thought.

'_Not necessarily,' _said a voice in his head that sounded just like Altair.

_Oh, you can hear my thoughts too? _Xander thought, glancing at Tristy who was checking her head.

_Only if I want to, and I sense you do not want to speak out loud to me to scare away your woman, so we can communicate this way,_ Altair said in his head.

_She's not my woman, she's just a friend, _Xander thought. _So how can we help her anyways?_

_Got to her, touch her injuries and the Ring, and concentrate, _Altair told him.

_Why? What am I going to do? _Xander asked.

_We are going to heal her, _Altair answered.

_We can do that? _Xander asked.

_Yes, _Altair answered with a nod. _That's the power of the Millennium Items. _Xander nodded and moved over to Tristy and sat next to her.

"Here, let me see," Xander said. Tristy looked at Xander who moved his hand and touched her head, while touching his Ring.

"Now, concentrate," Altair instructed. _I'm trying, but it doesn't seem to working,_ Xander thought with his eyes closed. "Concentrate on wanting to heal her," Altair replied aloud.

_Okay, _Xander replied, concentrating on wanting to heal his friend, neither noticing the Ring shining or the golden eye appearing on Xander's forehead. Xander opened his eyes that widened when he saw that Tristy's cut and bruise began to heal. When it was over, Xander removed his hand while Tristy touched her head.

"Wow, my headache's gone," Tristy said, amazed, and looked at Xander. "What did you do?" she asked.

Xander choked, not knowing what to say. If he told the truth, would she believe him, or think him crazy. He looked at Altair who nodded back. Xander turned to Tristy. "Just an old family remedy," he answered, nervously. "If you tough the right spot, it can make the pain go away."

"Really?" Tristy said. Xander gulped and nodded, hoping she bought it, which she did when she stood up. "Well, I guess I should get going," she said, touching her neck where he necklace should have been and gasped. "My necklace!"

"Oh, yeah," Xander said sadly. "They took your necklace, I'm sorry," he apologized, standing up next to her.

"But they didn't get yours," Tristy replied sadly, looking at his Ring.

"Yeah, i sorta fought them off," Xander replied, rubbing his arm and glancing at Altair who was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

"Oh," Tristy replied, bowing her head. "I guess I wasn't strong enough to keep the men away like you did."

"Don't say that," Xander replied. "You are strong, it's just that they were stronger." Tristy sniffed as a tear dropped down her cheek. Xander put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, come on, it wasn't your fault. If it was anyone's fault it was mine."

"No, Xander. It's not your fault we were outnumbered," Tristy replied with a trembling sigh. "My necklace is gone now, and there's nothing we can do about it." she added and began to cry.

Xander sighed and hugged her. "It's okay," he said. "We will get your necklace back," then added while looking at Altair. "Somehow."


	6. Authors Note

**Author's Note:**

**For those people who like this story, I am very sorry but I have to put this story on hold until I can finish one story and then move onto the next and finish that and so on and so on. So there will be no updates for this story for a while. Thank you for reading and the reviews and I am sorry once again. I know you want to know certain things and if you do, message me and I will give you answers as best I can, thank you.**


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